Liposoluble platinum(II) complexes with antitumor activity.

Seventeen liposoluble bis(carboxylato)-cyclohexane-1,2-diammineplatinum(II) and bis(carboxylato)-cis-diammineplatinum(II) complexes were synthesized and tested for antitumor activity against leukemia L1210 cells in mice. The former complexes had excellent antitumor activity without any toxicity to the host at the therapeutic dose when used with lipiodol as a carrier solvent. The latter complexes had neither antitumor activity nor toxicity in vivo. The former complexes were gradually released from lipiodol to saline in vitro; the latter were not. The activity depended on the chain length of the carboxylato residue and also on the molecular shape of the ligand part of the complexes.