Combination of etanidazole with cyclophosphamide and platinum complexes.

In an effort to improve the therapeutic efficacy and selectivity of cyclophosphamide (CTX), cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (CDDP), and carboplatin (Carbo), these antitumor alkylating agents were combined with the 2-nitroimidazole drug etanidazole (ETA). As revealed by tumor-cell survival assay in the FSaIIC murine fibrosarcoma, the addition of ETA (1 g/kg, i.p.) just prior to the i.p. injection of various doses of the alkylating agents resulted in increases in the tumor-cell kill produced by each drug (CTX, 10-fold; CDDP, 20-fold; and Carbo, 5- to 15-fold), whereas toxicity to bone marrow granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming units (CFU-GM) increased only about 0- to 3-fold. When CTX was combined with either CDDP or Carbo, striking increases in tumor-cell killing were observed (20- to 100-fold across the CDDP dose range and 5- to 20-fold across the dose range of Carbo), which were supra-additive for CDDP and additive for Carbo as revealed by isobologram analysis. The addition of ETA to these alkylating-agent combinations produced a further approx. 20-fold increase in tumor-cell kill for both CTX/CDDP and CTX/Carbo. This effect was greatest at the lowest dose of the platinum drug tested and was supra-additive in the case of CDDP and additive for Carbo. Following treatment with ETA/CTX/CDDP, bone marrow CFU-GM toxicity increased only about 5-fold over that of CTX/CDDP alone, but the injection of ETA/CTX/Carbo resulted in a 10- to 20-fold increase in bone marrow toxicity as compared with that obtained using CTX/Carbo alone. Tumor growth-delay studies revealed significant increases in the antitumor effect of the alkylating agents when these were given in combination with ETA. Both the ETA/CTX/CDDP and the ETA/CTX/Carbo combinations produced tumor growth delays of 23 days, which represented approx. 1.6-fold increases over those obtained using the alkylating-agent combinations alone. These results suggest that ETA could significantly improve the therapeutic efficacy of these alkylating agents, whether they are given individually or in combination.