Neocarzinostatin was found in the culture broth of Streptomyces carzinostaticus by Ishida et al. of Tohoku University in 1957. It showed strong cytotoxicity against sarcoma 180 ascites, tumor cells, and leukemia SN36. Neocarzinostatin was found to be an acidic peptide of Mr 10700, consisting of 109 amino acid residues. Recently the principal agent of anticancer and antibacterial activity in neocarzinostatin was found to be a small molecular chromophore with the peptide component playing a role by stabilizing the chromophore in vivo. Neocarzinostatin is used to treat leukemia and gastric and pancreatic cancer.
