Abstract
Details of the effect on Ehrlich carcinoma of the individual bleomycins A1, A2, A2', A5, B2, B4 and B6 and their distribution in organs of mice are reported. In this study, A1, A2, A5 were found to have properties which might make them useful for treatment of tumors in skin of squamous cell carcinomas. The copper-free bleomycins had almost the same activities as the copper-containing forms against bacteria and Ehrlich carcinoma. Copper in the copper-containing bleomycins was shown to increase the toxicity and to increase the effect on vascular permeability by comparing copper-free and copper-containing A2 and B2. These observations suggest that copper-free bleomycins would be more useful for treatment of human tumors than copper-containing bleomycins.
