In vitro and in vivo studies on the anticancer activity of dehydroilludin M.

Six first-generation illudin analogs were tested for antitumor activity using in vitro cytotoxicity and in vivo xenograft models. One analog, dehydroilludin M, inhibited xenograft growth and prolonged life span of tumor bearing animals, when administered IP or IV, whereas the parent Illudin S compound was ineffective. The efficacy of dehydroilludin M in the MV522 lung carcinoma model exceeded that of 9 known anticancer drugs, and equaled that of mitomycin C. Dehydroilludin M retained the in vitro relative selective cytotoxicity for carcinomas and myeloid leukemia cell lines noted with the parent illudin compounds. In vitro cytotoxicity data predicted response of xenografts. Dehydroilludin M also retained the in vitro activity of the parent compounds against different multidrug resistant mdr cell lines.