The present invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions containing
targetable bioconjugates of hydralazine, a direct vasodilating agent
previously shown to decrease tumor blood flow, oxygenation and
interstitial fluid pressure in solid tumors. These bioconjugates are
hydralazine prodrugs that contain hydralazine conjugated to biocompatible
carrier molecules which specifically bind to sites that are expressed on
a diverse variety of tumor cell types. These hydralazine prodrugs are
preferably conjugated through an acid-labile hydrazone link that is
designed to be stable in plasma and release hydralazine through
acid-catalyzed hydrolysis in the acidic environment of the target tumor.
Because these prodrugs are stable at physiological pH and in plasma, they
are devoid of systemic vasoactive activity; however, they are acid-labile
conjugates that can be hydrolyzed upon reaching the more acid environment
of the tumor where the vasoactive activity of hydralazine is restored.
These prodrugs selectively bind to tumor-specific receptors on tumor
cells, and are degraded in the acidic tumor cell environment or the
acidic lysosomal compartments after being internalized into the cell.