Uptake of a nido-carboranylporphyrin by human glioma xenografts in athymic nude mice and by syngeneic ovarian carcinomas in immunocompetent mice.

A tetraphenylporphyrin bearing four dicarbollide ([B9C2H11]-) cages linked to the o-phenyl ring positions by anilide bonds, known as boronated tetraphenylporphyrin (BTPP), has been synthesized in excellent yield from tetra-(o-aminophenyl) porphyrin and carborane carbonyl chloride followed by base-assisted cage opening and ion exchange to give the highly water-soluble potassium salt. Preliminary studies showed that BTPP accumulates in liver and in a syngeneic ovarian carcinoma, but not in normal brain parenchyma, of mice infused with BTPP subcutaneously for 6 or 7 days via surgically implanted osmotic minipumps. In this study, the uptake of boron was measured in human gliomas xenografted subcutaneously to athymic nude mice in which BTPP was infused intraperitoneally or subcutaneously or both for 3 or 7 days by using similar minipumps. Immunocompetent mice bearing a syngeneic ovarian carcinoma were similarly infused to provide comparative data. Bulk concentrations of boron up to 18 micrograms/g of glioma and up to 45 micrograms/g of carcinoma were observed when up to 102 micrograms/g of tissue was present in the liver after 7 days of BTPP infusion. Glioma boron concentrations were increased by approximately 80% on the average (up to 33 micrograms/g) when correspondingly greater amounts of BTPP were infused in only 3 days. Cell counts and chemical tests on blood samples from individual mice indicate that BTPP causes moderate hepatotoxicity and thrombocytopenia. This hepatohematic toxicity syndrome should be taken into account if BTPP or a similar agent is used for boron neutron-capture therapy (BNCT) of human malignancies.