Novel cytotoxic 7-iminomethyl and 7-aminomethyl derivatives of camptothecin.

A series of new 7-iminomethyl derivatives of camptothecin were obtained from camptothecin-7-aldehyde and aromatic, alicyclic and aliphatic amines. Their hydrogenation led to the corresponding amines. All the imines and the less polar amines showed a marked increase of the cytotoxic activity against H460 non-small lung carcinoma cell line, with respect to topotecan. The lipophilicity of the substituent in position 7 of camptothecin seems to play an important role for cytotoxic potency. The 7-phenyliminomethyl derivative showed efficacy comparable to topotecan in vivo against NSCLC H460 xenografted in athymic nude mice.