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Background and Objective: The tyrosinkinase inhibitor Imatinib is active in Philadelphia-positive (Ph+) leukemia. Mutations within the Bcr-Abl kinase domain represent the major cause for clinical resistance toward imatinib. We aimed to examine, whether the alternative Abl Kinaseinhibitor SKI-DV 2 - 43 may be capable of suppressing the growth of cells expressing mutant forms of Bcr-Abl., Methods: The proliferation of cells expressing wild-type and mutant forms of Bcr-Abl was measured in the presence of imatinib or the pyrido-pyrimidine SKI-DV 2 - 43., Results: The growth of a cell line expressing wild-type Bcr-Abl was suppressed with higher potency in the presence of SKI-DV 2 - 43 when compared to imatinib. Moreover, SKI-DV 2 - 43 effectively suppressed mutant forms of Bcr-Abl that cause imatinib resistance in patients., Conclusion: Therefore, alternative Abl kinase inhibitors might play an important role in the future therapy of Philadelphia-positive leukemias.

Cutaneous angiosarcoma is a rare tumor of endothelial origin, often difficult to diagnose and with an unfavorable prognosis. A 85-year-old woman presented with an extensive angiosarcoma involving her right leg. The tumor was not clinically typical but the diagnosis was confirmed histologically. Because of her age and the extent of the tumor, we elected to treat primarily with cobalt-60 irradiation. The tumor unfortunately progressed during radiation therapy, so we decided to begin palliative chemotherapy with liposome-encapsulated doxorubicin. The patient received six cycles of doxorubicin (Caelyx, 15 mg/m(2) i.v. in four-week intervals) which was well-tolerated and led to complete regression of angiosarcoma which has lasted for 6 months. Chemotherapy with liposome-encapsulated doxorubicin may represent a well-tolerable therapeutic option in cases where surgery and irradiation are not possible or fail. Further studies are necessary to prove the efficacy of doxorubicin therapy in angiosarcoma.

The reactions of 2,4-dichloro-6-diethylamino-1,3,5-triazine (1) with the secondary amines 2a-g lead to the diamino-1,3,5-triazines 3a-e and the melamines 4a and 4b. The structures of the reaction products were established spectroscopically (IR, 1H-NMR, and MS).

The synthesis of the methylester of (5-[Bis(2-chlorethyl)amino]-1-methyl-benzimidazolyl-(2))ethanolic acid (4) has been described. The assumption that the butanoic acid group of the anticancer drug bendamustine (Cytostasan) will be biotransformed in patients to the ethanoic acid group as found for chlorambucil has been disproved by means of a comparison of the methylated metabolites and 4 by MS and HPLC.