This book records the proceedings of a joint U.S.-Japan symposium on the chem­ istry, biochemistry, and biology of bleomycin, an antitumor antibiotic shown to be effective therapeutically against, eg, squamous cell carcinomas, Hodgkin's lymphoma, and testicular tumors. Several important and previously unreported observations were presented and the status of experimental work in the United States and Japan was reviewed; a summary and interpretation of the scientific presentations at the meeting has been prepared by the editor and is included as the first contribution in this volume. In addition to the symposium contributions, an experimental section has been included at the end of the book dealing with practical methods for the fractiona­ tion, modification, and assay of bleomycin. It is hoped that this section will facilitate progress in this area of scientific endeavor. The symposium from which this book is derived was organized by Drs. Umezawa, Takita, and Hecht and supported financially by the National Science Foundation, the National Cancer Institute, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. S. M. Hecht v Contents Status Reports Summary of the Bleomycin Symposium. S. M. HECHT .............. 1 Advances in Bleomycin Studies. H. UMEZAWA ................... , 24 Review of the Structural Studies on Bleomycin. T. TAKITA . . . . . . . .. . . 37 . Synthetic and Biosynthetic Studies Studies on the Total Synthesis of Bleomycin. S. M. HECHT, D. 1. BURLETT, Y. MUSHIKA, Y. KURODA, and M. D. LEVIN .......... 48 A Synthetic Approach to the Pyrimidine Moiety of Bleomycin.