XR11576, a novel phenazine, was developed as an inhibitor of both topoisomerase I and II. This study characterized the ability of XR11576 to inhibit both enzymes, and determined its in vitro and in vivo antitumor efficacy against a number of murine and human tumor models. XR11576 was a potent inhibitor of purified topoisomerase I and IIalpha, and exhibited similar potency for both enzymes. The compound stabilized enzyme-DNA cleavable complexes indicating that it acted as a topoisomerase poison. The DNA cleavage patterns obtained with XR11576 were different from those induced by camptothecin and etoposide, which are topoisomerase I and II poisons, respectively. XR11576 demonstrated potent cytotoxic activity against a variety of human and murine tumor cell lines (IC50=6-47 nM). Its activity profile was comparable to or better than that of many widely used anticancer drugs. Moreover, XR11576 was unaffected by multidrug resistance (MDR) mediated by overexpression of either P-glycoprotein or MDR-associated protein, or by down-regulation of topoisomerase II. The latter property supports the dual inhibitory mechanism of action of the compound. XR11576 exhibited a similar pharmacokinetic profile in mice and rats after either i.v. or p.o. administration. In vivo XR11576 showed marked efficacy against a number of tumors including sensitive (H69/P) and multidrug-resistant (H69/LX4) small cell lung cancer and the relatively refractory MC26 and HT29 colon carcinomas following i.v. and p.o. administration. The efficacy of XR11576 was at least comparable to that of TAS-103, originally proposed as a dual inhibitor of topoisomerase I and II. These results suggest that XR11576 is a promising new antitumor agent with oral and i.v. activity, and warrants further development.