L-Asparaginase

Abstract

L-ASPARAGINASE affords a unique approach to the chemotherapy of malignant neoplasms by exploiting a metabolic difference between tumor cells and host cells.Historical BackgroundIn 1953 Kidd¹ noted that normal guinea-pig serum has antitumor activity, and Broome² subsequently showed that the active antitumor substance is L-asparaginase, which is present in high concentration in the serum of the guinea pig and its close relatives. Dolowy and his associates³ used purified guinea-pig serum to treat a boy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and obtained an objective response. The discovery of Escherichia coli L-asparaginase with antitumor activity presented a source of enzyme in sufficient . . .