[Cytostatic non-platinum metal complexes: new perspectives for the treatment of cancer?].

Non-platinum-group metal antitumor agents are represented by inorganic and organometallic compounds which contain either main-group metals such as gallium, germanium, and tin, or transition metals such as titanium, vanadium, iron, copper, and gold. Their antiproliferative properties have been detected during the past years, the spectrum of antitumor activity not being identical with that of cytostatic platinum complexes. In the case of germanium complexes, the antitumor activity is obviously not based on direct cytotoxic effects, but on host-mediated immunopotentiating mechanisms. The toxic properties of most non-platinum-group metal antitumor agents differ fundamentally from those of platinum compounds. Thus, non-platinum-group metal antitumor agents may open new perspectives for the clinical therapy of human malignancies.