Experimental and clinical activity of a new anthracycline derivative: detorubicin (14-diethoxyacetoxydaunorubicin).

This report concerns the experimental activity and the preliminary clinical results obtained with detorubicin, an anthracycline. Experimentally, in comparison with doxorubicin, detorubicin is less toxic, less immunodepressive, and less mutagenic, its experimental antitumor activity is equal or superior, and differences are found in pharmacokinetics. Its most interesting activities in clinical cancer therapy are found in non-Hodgkin lymphomas, in carcinomas, and in soft-tissue sarcomas.