[Antitumor candidate compounds under clinical trials in Japan]

Currently many antitumor candidate compounds are under clinical trials in Japan. These compounds include synthetic compounds and natural products and their chemical modifiers. Concerning synthetics, fluoropyrimidines and other antimetabolites, cisplatin analogues and other compounds are in phase I or II trials. As for the natural products, antitumor antibiotics including anthracyclines, bleomycin analogue and others and chemically modified plant products are major candidate compounds under phase I or II trials. We are expecting to develop clinically useful drugs among these compounds which have been in clinical trials currently in Japan.