The relation of anticancer activity to chemical structure: a review.

This discussion of structure-activity relationships is confined to two or the more important classes of anticancer agentswthe alkylating agents and the antimetaboliteswand to results obtained with these compounds in experimental animal therapy. An attempt is made to point to correlations between the anticancer activity and the structure of these compounds. From these structure-activity correlations, limited deductions can be made concerning the mechanism of action of some of the compounds. This is not a comprehensive review. Emphasis has been placed on studies that have at least partially defined the structural requirements necessary for the anticancer activity of the various types of agents.