| Application |
Regulator (calcium).In clinical trials, gallium nitrate has proved to be highly active as an antitumour agent especially against non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and bladder cancer. The cytotoxic activity of gallium nitrate has been demonstrated as single agent and as part of combination therapy, for example, together with fluorouracil. Gallium nitrate shows a relatively low toxicity and does not produce myelosuppression, which is a significant advantage over other traditional anticancer agents. Furthermore, it does not appear to show any cross-resistance with conventional chemotherapeutic agents. These studies have also shown that gallium nitrate is able to decrease serum calcium levels in patients with tumour-induced hypercalcaemia. Subsequently, several studies have been carried out comparing traditional bisphosphonate drugs with gallium nitrate in their ability to decrease the calcium levels that are elevated as a result of cancer. Based on the clinical efficacy, gallium nitrate injections (GaniteTM) was granted approval by the FDA for the treatment of cancer-associated hypercalcaemia. Gallium nitrate is also believed to inhibit the bone turnover and therefore to decrease osteolysis, the active reabsorption of bone material, in patients with bone metastasis secondary to other cancers.
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