The rationale for the development of improved hypoxic cell radiosensitizers.

This paper outlines the chemical background to the selection of compounds likely to be clinically superior to the nitroimidazoles currently being evaluated in cancer therapy. The most important chemical properties to consider are electron affinity and lipophilicity, and the quantification and prediction of both these properties are considered. Examples are presented of the use of multiple regression analysis to evaluate the relative contribution of individual properties to the overall biological response.