Gold(III) porphyrins as a new class of anticancer drugs: cytotoxicity, DNA binding and induction of apoptosis in human cervix epitheloid cancer cells.

A series of gold(III) tetraarylporphyrins are stable in the presence of glutathione and exert much higher potency than cisplatin in killing human cancer cells, including the drug-resistant variants; the gold-induced cytotoxicity occurs through an apoptotic pathway according to laser confocal microscopy and flow cytometric studies.