Comparative pharmacologic study in vitro and in vivo with cyclophosphamide (NSC-26271), cyclophosphamide metabolites, and plain nitrogen mustard compounds.

This paper deals with the problem of the relative selectivity of the antitumor effect of cyclophosphamide (CP). CP and its metabolites are pharmacologically characterized by determining their chemical and biological activities in vitro and their pharmacotherapeutic properties in vivo. Of particular importance is the specificity of the cytotoxic activity (cytostatic units/mumol) in vitro and the margin of safety (therapeutic index) in vivo. The pharmacologic data reveal: a. Of the various metabolites of CP only 4-hydroxycyclophosphamide, the primary activation product, exerts a highly specific cytotoxic activity in vitro and has a wide margin of safety in vivo. b. The decisive step in toxication is the formation of the alkylating N,N-bis(2-chloroethyl)phosphorodiamidic acid after acrolein has been split off.