Description
We have demonstrated that water-soluble zinc ionophores can be administered to mice at relatively high doses and inhibit the growth of A549 lung cancer cells grown in xenograft models. Gene expression profiles of tumor specimens harvested from mice four hours after treatment confirmed that the activation of stress responsive genes occurs in vivo. These findings lead us to propose that the pharmacologic delivery of zinc to tumors using water solubilized ionophores is a potential approach to cancer therapy.