Antitumour and cytogenetic effects of modified steroidal derivatives of propenoic acid: in vivo/in vitro studies.

Background: Modified steroidal derivatives (PK11-PK14) of p-bis(2-chloroethyl)aminophenyl propenate (PK15) were used to study their antitumour activity on Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) and their effect on sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) and human lymphocyte proliferation kinetics.
Materials and Methods: LLC was tested in this study. C57BL mice were used for in vivo chemotherapy evaluation and the antitumour activity was assessed. Lymphocyte cultures were used to study the genotoxic effect in vitro.
Results: PK15 and PK11 were the most effective against LLC, causing significant inhibition of tumour growth. PK11 and PK15 induced significant increase in SCE rates. A correlation was observed between the cytogenetic effect and the antitumour effectiveness.
Conclusion: The order of the antitumour effectiveness of PK11-PK15 resembled the order of the cytogenetic damage induced by the same compounds in vitro.