Antiproliferative activity of Titanocene Y against tumor colony-forming units.

Bis-[(p-methoxybenzyl)cyclopentadienyl] titanium dichloride, better known as Titanocene Y, is a newly synthesized titanium-based anticancer drug. We studied the antitumor activity of Titanocene Y with concentrations of 2.1, 21 and 210 micromol/l against a range of freshly explanted human tumors, using an in-vitro soft agar cloning system. The sensitivity against Titanocene Y was highly remarkable in the case of renal cell, ovarian, nonsmall cell lung and colon cancer. In particular the surprisingly good response of nonsmall cell lung cancer and colon cancer against Titanocene Y at its lowest concentration of 2.1 micromol/l was well comparable or better with respect to cisplatin, given at a concentration of 1.0 micromol/l. Further clinical development of Titanocene Y appears to be warranted because of the broad cytotoxic activity shown and the specific activity of Titanocene Y against renal cell cancer.