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VRCTC-310 — A novel compound of purified animal toxins separates antitumor efficacy from neurotoxicity

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Summary

Two purified animal venom toxins, crotoxin and cardiotoxin, have been combined to produce a unique natural product (VRCTC-310) currently under investigation as an antitumor agent by the National Cancer Institute.In vitro, it has demonstrated cytotoxic disease specificity and a unique mechanism of action when submitted to COMPARE analysis.In vivo, tolerance was developed to the neurotoxic properties of crotoxin which allowed comparison of several schedules of fixed and escalating daily i.m. doses to mice bearing s.c. Lewis Lung carcinoma. An 83% inhibition of tumor growth was achieved using an escalating dose schedule starting at 1.8 mg/kg and reaching 6.3 mg/kg/day on day 20. Although some irritation around the sites of i.m. injection was noted, animal weight loss was negligible and there were no other signs of adverse toxicity. This natural product represents a new, membrane interactive anticancer agent which produces a unique spectrum of cytotoxicityin vitro and which has demonstrated interestingin vivo antitumor efficacy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Investigation, The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 77030, Houston, TX, USA

    Robert A. Newman

  2. Ventech Research Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA

    Juan C. Vidal, Luis J. Viskatis & Martin A. Etcheverry

  3. Drug Synthesis and Chemistry Branch, Division of Cancer Treatment, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Jill Johnson

Authors
  1. Robert A. Newman
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  2. Juan C. Vidal
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  3. Luis J. Viskatis
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  4. Jill Johnson
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  5. Martin A. Etcheverry
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Newman, R.A., Vidal, J.C., Viskatis, L.J. et al. VRCTC-310 — A novel compound of purified animal toxins separates antitumor efficacy from neurotoxicity. Invest New Drugs 11, 151–159 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00874149

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