• 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 43  (3) , 1409-1414
Abstract
2''-Deoxycoformycin, a tight-binding adenosine deaminase inhibitor, was administered to 11 adult patients with refractory lymphoproliferative diseases. Total doses ranged from 1.0 to 13.5 mg/kg. Inhibition of lymphoblast adenosine deaminase was obtained in all cases and tumor cytoreduction was noted in 8 of 10 cases, but no clinically meaningful remissions were obtained. Major toxicities occurred in 5 patients and included pulmonary edema, renal failure, CNS toxicity, hypotension and death. Toxicity prevented retreatment in several cases in which marked cytoreduction occurred. Deoxyadenosine triphosphate accumulated to a variable extent in the red blood cells of all patients, and a reciprocal decrease in erythrocyte ATP was noted in all cases but one. All patients who suffered major organ toxicity had red blood cell deoxyadenosine triphosphate/ATP ratios > 1.3. These data suggest that the degree of replacement of ATP by deoxyadenosine triphosphate in erythrocytes reflects the biochemical milieu which may result in systemic toxicity following treatment with 2''-deoxycoformycin.

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