Antitumor activity of Virulizin, a novel biological response modifier (BRM) in a panel of human pancreatic cancer and melanoma xenografts.

Purpose: To define the anticancer efficacy of Virulizin in vivo as a single agent or in combination with conventional drugs in human pancreatic tumor and melanoma xenografts.

Methods: The therapeutic effect of Virulizin was evaluated in a series of human tumor xenografts in athymic nude mice.

Results: Virulizin had a high level of antitumor activity against all the pancreatic tumors (BxPC-3, SU 86.86. and Mia-PaCa-2) and melanomas (C8161 and A2058), as indicated by suppression of tumor growth with an optimal T/C value of
Conclusion: These studies suggest that Virulizin effectively inhibits the growth of solid human pancreatic tumors and melanomas in the xenograft model.