SYNTHESIS AND BIOCOMPATIBILITY OF MALEIC-ANHYDRIDE COPOLYMERS .1. MALEIC-ANHYDRIDE VINYL-ACETATE, MALEIC-ANHYDRIDE METHYL-METHACRYLATE AND MALEIC-ANHYDRIDE STYRENE

A series of maleic anhydride (MA)-vinyl acetate (VA), MA-methyl methac rylate (MM) and MA-styrene (S) copolymers were prepared and characteri zed. By employing various amounts of initiator, MA-VA, MA-MM and MA-S copolymers with molecular weights ranging between 18 000 and 219 000 w ere obtained. The 'in vivo' and 'in vitro' tests performed on K562 cel lular cultures (human chronic myeloid leukaemia) and also on Westar ra ts (inoculated with the Walker 256 carcinosarcome) showed that, as a f unction of the molecular weight, the copolymers synthesized had a 50% in vitro cytotoxicity and a mean tumour regression of a maximum of 68% .