Tumorigenicity in vivo and induction of malignant transformation and mutagenesis in cell cultures by adriamycin and daunomycin.

The two anthracycline antitumor antibiotics, adriamycin and daunomycin, have been tested for tumorigenic activity, and the results confirm previous findings that they can induce mammary tumors in female rats receiving single i.v. doses. Both substances are highly potent in producing malignant transformation and mutation in mammalian cell systems in vitro. Their transformming activity is comparable to that of the potent carcinogen, N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitro-soguanidine. Actinomycin D, although similar to the anthracyclines in having high binding affinity for DNA, is only minimally effective in the same in vitro systems and its direct carcinogenic activity in vivo is moot. These results suggest that satisfactory correlations may be obtainable between tests for tumorigenicity in vivo, and assays for transformation and mutagenesis in vitro, and that adriamycin, and daunomycin may have carcinogenic potential in man.