| abstract |
Arsenic trioxide, an inorganic compound, is commercially available anti-cancer agent but it carries significant toxicity. Organic arsenicals, on the other hand, are much less toxic, to the extent that the methylation of inorganic arsenic in vivo into organic arsenicals has been considered a detoxification reaction. New organic arsenic derivatives have been synthesized, including S-dimethylarsino-glutathione, S-dimethylarsino-thiosuccinic acid and S-dimethylarsino-thiobenzoic acid, and established its potent in vitro cytotoxic activity against numerous human tumor cell lines, both of solid and hematological origin, as well as against malignant blood cells from patients with leukemia. Results form a basis for the development of S-dimethylarsino-glutathione, S-dimethylarsino-thiosuccinic acid, S-dimethylarsino-thiobenzoic acid, and other organic arsenicals as an anti-cancer therapy, combining high efficacy with very low, if any, toxicity. |