# Semisynthetic maytansine analogues for the targeted treatment of cancer

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-widdison-j-med-chem/  
OnCo record `paper-widdison-j-med-chem` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Paper cited by one term page, indexed on Europe PMC as PubMed record 16821799 and published in Journal of medicinal chemistry; the citing page links this DOI, which is how the record was matched.

## Summary

Maytansine, a highly cytotoxic natural product, failed as an anticancer agent in human clinical trials because of unacceptable systemic toxicity. The potent cell killing ability of maytansine can be used in a targeted delivery approach for the selective destruction of cancer cells. A series of new maytansinoids, bearing a disulfide or thiol substituent were synthesized. The chain length of the ester side chain and the degree of steric hindrance on the carbon atom bearing the thiol substituent were varied. Several of these maytansinoids were found to be even more potent in vitro than maytansine. The targeted delivery of these maytansinoids, using monoclonal antibodies, resulted in a high, specific killing of the targeted cells in vitro and remarkable antitumor activity in vivo.

Indexed on Europe PMC as PubMed record 16821799 (DOI 10.1021/jm060319f). Matched by DOI alone: one term page cites this DOI among its external links (the pages are listed under Related), and this page was written so that the citation resolves inside OnCo. No figure has been checked by an editor.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-22
- Tags: europepmc-ingest
- Journal: Journal of medicinal chemistry
- Year: 2006
- DOI: 10.1021/jm060319f
- Authors: Widdison WC, Wilhelm SD, Cavanagh EE, et al.
- What it means: One term page on OnCo cites this paper by its DOI; this record gives the citation a page of its own so a reader can follow it without leaving OnCo. Read the abstract above alongside the citing page listed under Related; the record was created automatically from the Europe PMC entry and its figures have not been checked by hand.
- Caveats: Matched to the citing OnCo records by DOI alone; the summary reproduces the Europe PMC abstract and no figure has been verified against the full paper.

## Sources

- J Med Chem 2006: https://doi.org/10.1021/jm060319f
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16821799/
- Europe PMC: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/16821799

## Connected records

- terms: [DM4](https://onco.cc/terms/dm4/)

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