Mutagenic activity of the dacarbazine analog p-(3,3-dimethyl-1-triazeno)benzoic acid potassium salt in bacterial cells.

The mutagenic activity of the antimetastatic agent p-(3,3-dimethyl-1-triazeno)benzoic acid potassium salt (DM-COOK) was studied in procaryotic cells and compared with that of dacarbazine (DTIC) which is clinically used in the management of human neoplasms. The results indicated that DM-COOK has a very low mutagenic activity on the Salmonella typhimurium strains tested, while it is more effective in inducing trp+ revertants in E. coli B strains. The magnitude of these effects was always less pronounced than that displayed by DTIC. The mutagenic activity of DM-COOK appeared to be independent from the addition of a metabolic activating system and had a different pattern from that displayed by MM-COOK. It is therefore unlikely that DM-COOK acts through conversion into the monomethyl derivative.