Search for metabolites of ecteinascidin 743, a novel, marine-derived, anti-cancer agent, in man

Rolf W. Sparidans*, Hilde Rosing, Michel J X Hillebrand, Luis López-Lázaro, José M. Jimeno, Ignacio Manzanares, Charlotte Van Kesteren, Esteban Cvitkovic, Alan T. Van Oosterom, Jan H M Schellens, Jos H. Beijnen

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    Abstract

    Ecteinascidin 743 (ET-743) is a potent anti-tumoral agent of a marine origin. It is currently being tested in phase II clinical trials using a 3-weekly 24-h i.v. infusion of 1500 μg/m2 and 3-h infusions of 1650 μg/m2. Knowledge of the metabolism of ET-743 is, however, still scarce. In the present study, a qualitative chromatographic discovery of metabolites of ET-743 in man is reported. ET-743 and its demethylated analog ET-729 were incubated at 37°C in the presence of enzyme systems, pooled human microsomes, pooled human plasma and uridine 5′-diphosphoglucuronyltransferase, respectively, in appropriate media. Reaction products were investigated chromatographically using photodiode array and ion spraymass spectrometric detection (LC-MS). The main reaction products in microsomal incubations of ET-743 resulted from a remarkable breakdown of the molecule. In plasma the drugs were deacetylated, and the transferase did actually yield a glucuronide of both ET-743 and ET-729. In contrast, screening of urine, plasma and bile, collected from patients treated with ET-743 at the highest dose levels, using a sensitive LC-MS assay, did not result in detection of ET-729 and metabolites which were generated in vitro. The urinary excretion of ET-743 in man was lower than 0.7% of the administered dose for a 24-h infusion.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)653-666
    Number of pages14
    JournalAnti-Cancer Drugs
    Volume12
    Issue number8
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2001

    Keywords

    • Ecteinascidin 729
    • Ecteinascidin 743
    • High-performance liquid chromatography
    • Metabolism
    • Microsomes

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