Abstract
Bleomycin is an antitumor agent which is a mixture of glycopeptides containing at least 55-75% bleomycin A2 and 25-32% bleomycin B2 fractional composition. Two bleomycin formulations, bleomycin sulfate, USP (Blenoxane, Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology, Princeton, N.J.) and bleomycin HCl (Tianjin Hebei Pharmaceutical, Tianjin, China) were compared analytically and biologically. Reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analyses using the USP methodology showed that Blenoxane contained primarily (69%) bleomycin A2 and 29.3% bleomycin B2. In contrast, Tianjin-supplied bleomycin HCl contained 97% bleomycin A5 fraction. In vitro tumor cell growth inhibition assays showed equivalent activity in human OVCAR-3 ovarian cancer cells and slightly greater potency in murine L-1210 leukemia cells for the Tianjin formulation. In C57/B1 mice bearing B-16 melanoma tumors, Tianjin-supplied bleomycin produced slightly greater tumor growth inhibition at the expense of greater drug-induced lethality at higher dose levels. These studies show there are significant differences in two international bleomycin formulations. These compositional differences lead to altered biologic effects.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 149-154 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Cancer Chemotherapy And Pharmacology |
Volume | 42 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1998 |
Keywords
- Anticancer
- Bleomycin
- Equivalence
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oncology
- Toxicology
- Pharmacology
- Cancer Research
- Pharmacology (medical)