Mitoxantrone: mechanism of action, antitumor activity, pharmacokinetics, efficacy in the treatment of solid tumors and lymphomas, and toxicity.

Mitoxantrone is similar to Adriblastin in its mechanism of action and antitumor activity. Objective remissions were obtained in 20-30% pretreated patients and in 23-44% of untreated patients by single-drug treatment of patients suffering from metastatic breast cancer. The objective response rates to Mitoxantrone in combination with CTX, 5-FU, MTX, VCR, MMC. Prednimustine or Vindesine were 16-46% in treatment and 38-89% in primary treatment. Randomized studies comparing Mitoxantrone with Adriblastin in single-drug and combination treatment did not show any significant differences in efficacy. However, Mitoxantrone was significantly less toxic. Remission rates of between 24 and 54% were achieved by single-drug treatment in pretreated patients suffering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Mitoxantrone appears to be active in ovarian cancer, lung cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma.