Antimetastatic action of some triazene derivatives against the Lewis lung carcinoma in mice.

Two dimethyltriazenoimidazoles, DTIC and BRL 51308, and a benzenoid dimethyltriazene, CB 10286, have been examined for their effects in mice bearing Lewis lung carcinoma. A slight reduction of primary tumor growth was found after treatment with DTIC and BRL 51308, whereas CB 10286 caused no significant effect. On the contrary, all the tested compounds sharply reduced the number of lung metastases and also resulted in a high proportion of animals free of metastases at death. No significant cytotoxic effect of the triazenes was observed in small established pulmonary tumors, as determined by evaluating the effects of treatment on the fractional incorporation of 3H-TdR into DNA of the lung colonies. These results are in contrast to those obtained with a purely cytotoxic agent, cyclophosphamide, and indicate that all three triazene derivatives tested have selective antimetastatic properties.