Potentiation by phenylbisbenzimidazoles of cytotoxicity of anticancer drugs directed against topoisomerase II.

Analogues of the phenylbisbenzimidazole dye pibenzimol bind tightly to the minor groove of DNA. A clonogenic assay has been used to investigate the effects of these compounds on the cytotoxicity of the topoisomerase II directed anti-cancer drugs amsacrine, CI-921 (an amsacrine analogue), acridine carboxamide, etoposide and doxorubicin. Although pibenzimol itself was inactive, several of its analogues reduced the toxicity of etoposide, amsacrine and CI-921 towards a Lewis lung mouse tumour line at concentrations between 1 and 20 mumol/l. Doxorubicin cytotoxicity was unaffected, suggesting that this drug has a distinct mechanism of action. At concentrations below 1 mumol/l, some of these dyes potentiated the cytotoxicity of etoposide and CI-921 towards Lewis lung cells. Potentiation of CI-921 activity was also found with the human tumour lines HT29 (colon), SW620 (colon) and FME (melanoma). Novel treatments may arise from the potentiation of topoisomerase II directed cytotoxicity.