Aclarubicin: experimental and clinical experience
Röthig, H.J.; Kraemer, H.P.; Sedlacek, H.H.
Drugs under Experimental and Clinical Research 11(2): 123-125
1985
ISSN/ISBN: 0378-6501 PMID: 3915280 Document Number: 259284
Aclarubicin, discovered by Umezawa in 1975, is a new cytostatic anthracycline antibiotic. It is one of the anthracyclines with the lowest cardiotoxicity, it is not a mutagenic and it stimulates differentiation of tumor cells. The therapeutic index of aclarubicin (efficacy related to toxicity) is higher than that of doxorubicin and daunorubicin, using a proper dose schedule. Single dose therapy of aclarubicin shows only marginal efficacy, whereas multiple divided dose therapy exhibits efficacy comparable to that of doxorubicin and daunorubicin. For clinical trials, 2 dose schedules were designed, i.e., 25 mg/m2 mg/m2 per day, days 1-7 for acute leukemia and 30 mg/m2 per day, days 1-4 for solid tumors. Aclarubicin was highly active in acute leukemia with 58% complete remissions in first relapse of AML . Good results were also seen in acute leukemia in combination with cytosine arabinoside and thioguanine. In clinical trials with breast cancer and thyroid cancer the efficacy was in the same range as would be expected for doxorubicin, but side-effects were markedly reduced. Anorexia, mild nausea and infrequent vomiting were observed. Myelosuppression was common but dose reduction was not necessary. There was no alopecia and no congestive heart failure.
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