Antitumor Alkaloids in Clinical Use

Modem Alkaloids Structure, Isolation, Synthesis and Biology. Edited by E. Fattorusso and O. Taglialatela-Scafati Copyright 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH Co. KGaA, Weinheim ISBN 978-3-527-31521-5 

The spectrum of antitumor activity of VDS is similar to that of VCR, but with milder experimental neurotoxicity. Its terminal half-life is 24 h and its plasma clearance is intermediate between those of VLB and VCR. The maximal tolerated dose is 4—5 mg/m /week, the dose-limiting toxicity being myelosuppression (nadir by 

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The primary clinical application of the antiproliferative effects of the bisindole alkaloids has been in the treatment of human neoplasms. A variety of experimental antitumor systems have been used to study the antitumor properties of these alkaloids in animal models, and much of the information presented for specific compounds in this chapter highlights these effects. Early studies employed syngeneic mice bearing hematopoietic... 

Formation of Alkaloids in Cell-Suspension Cultures.- This subject has been an active area of research in the last few years, and it is potentially a way to obtain economically useful natural products in a controlled environment, rather than by extracting whole plants, which are often difficult to cultivate in hospitable regions of our planet. Several books on this topic have appeared. The species Catharanthus roaeus has attracted much attention since it is a source of the clinically useful antitumor agents vinblastine and vincristine. Extensive work with this species has been carried out by Zenk ,Kutney ,Scott ,and their... 

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