Arsenic trioxide, an inorganic compound, is commercially available
anti-cancer agent but it carries significant toxicity. Organic
arsenicals, on the other hand, are much less toxic, to the extent that
the methylation of inorganic arsenic in vivo into organic arsenicals has
been considered a detoxification reaction. New organic arsenic
derivatives have been synthesized, including
S-dimethylarsino-glutathione, S-dimethylarsino-thiosuccinic acid and
S-dimethylarsino-thiobenzoic acid, and established its potent in vitro
cytotoxic activity against numerous human tumor cell lines, both of solid
and hematological origin, as well as against malignant blood cells from
patients with leukemia. Results form a basis for the development of
S-dimethylarsino-glutathione, S-dimethylarsino-thiosuccinic acid,
S-dimethylarsino-thiobenzoic acid, and other organic arsenicals as an
anti-cancer therapy, combining high efficacy with very low, if any,
toxicity.