Editing Arsenic (section)

=== Medical use ===

During the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a number of arsenic compounds were used as medicines, including [[arsphenamine]] (by [[Paul Ehrlich]]) and [[arsenic trioxide]] (by [[Thomas Fowler (inventor)|Thomas Fowler]]), for treating diseases such as cancer or [[psoriasis]].<ref name="ITOM">{{cite book |last1=Gibaud |first1=Stéphane |last2=Jaouen |first2=Gérard |title=Medicinal Organometallic Chemistry |chapter=Arsenic-Based Drugs: From Fowler's Solution to Modern Anticancer Chemotherapy |date=2010 |volume=32 |pages=1–20 |doi= 10.1007/978-3-642-13185-1_1 |series=Topics in Organometallic Chemistry |isbn=978-3-642-13184-4|bibcode=2010moc..book....1G }}</ref> Arsphenamine, as well as [[neosalvarsan]], was indicated for [[syphilis]], but has been superseded by modern [[antibiotics]]. However, arsenicals such as [[melarsoprol]] are still used for the treatment of [[trypanosomiasis]] in spite of their severe toxicity, since the disease is almost uniformly fatal if untreated.<ref>{{cite journal | pmid = 28673422 | doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31510-6 | volume=390 | issue=10110 | title=Human African trypanosomiasis | year=2017 |vauthors=Büscher P, Cecchi G, Jamonneau V, Priotto G | journal=Lancet | pages=2397–2409| s2cid=4853616 }}</ref> In 2000 the US [[Food and Drug Administration]] approved arsenic trioxide for the treatment of patients with [[acute promyelocytic leukemia]] that is resistant to [[all-trans retinoic acid]].<ref>{{cite journal|last = Antman |first = Karen H.|date = 2001| title = The History of Arsenic Trioxide in Cancer Therapy|volume = 6|issue =Suppl 2|pages = 1–2|pmid = 11331433|doi = 10.1634/theoncologist.6-suppl_2-1|journal = The Oncologist|doi-access = free}}</ref>

A 2008 paper reports success in locating tumors using arsenic-74 (a positron emitter). This isotope produces clearer [[Positron emission tomography|PET scan]] images than the previous radioactive agent, [[iodine]]-124, because the body tends to transport iodine to the thyroid gland producing signal noise.<ref>{{cite journal|journal = Clinical Cancer Research|date = 2008|volume = 14|pages =1377–1385|doi = 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-07-1516|title = Vascular imaging of solid tumors in rats with a radioactive arsenic-labeled antibody that binds exposed phosphatidylserine |last1 = Jennewein |first1 =Marc|pmid = 18316558|issue = 5|last2 = Lewis|first2 = M. A.|last3 = Zhao|first3 = D.|last4 = Tsyganov |first4 = E.|last5 = Slavine |first5 = N. |last6 = He |first6 = J. |last7 = Watkins |first7 = L. |last8 = Kodibagkar |first8 = V. D.|last9 = O'Kelly |first9 = S.|first10=P. |last10=Kulkarni|first11=P. |last11=Antich|first12=A. |last12=Hermanne|first13=F. |last13=Rösch |first14=R. |last14=Mason |first15=Ph. |last15=Thorpe |display-authors=6 |pmc = 3436070}}</ref> [[Nanoparticle]]s of arsenic have shown ability to kill cancer cells with lesser [[cytotoxicity]] than other arsenic formulations.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Subastri |first1=Ariraman |last2=Arun |first2=Viswanathan |last3=Sharma |first3=Preeti |last4=Preedia babu |first4=Ezhuthupurakkal |last5=Suyavaran |first5=Arumugam |last6=Nithyananthan |first6=Subramaniyam |last7=Alshammari |first7=Ghedeir M. |last8=Aristatile |first8=Balakrishnan |last9=Dharuman |first9=Venkataraman |last10=Thirunavukkarasu |first10=Chinnasamy  |display-authors=6 |title=Synthesis and characterisation of arsenic nanoparticles and its interaction with DNA and cytotoxic potential on breast cancer cells |journal=Chemico-Biological Interactions |date=November 2018 |volume=295 |pages=73–83 |doi=10.1016/j.cbi.2017.12.025 |pmid=29277637 |bibcode=2018CBI...295...73S |s2cid=1816043 }}</ref>