A new nitrosourea antitumor agent TA-077, 1-(2-chloroethyl)-3-isobutyl-3-(beta-maltosyl)-1-nitrosourea, was intravenously administered to 15 cancer patients at doses ranging from 7 to 100 N (1 N = 30 mg/m2) in a phase I clinical trial. Time courses of blood concentrations of TA-077 and its active metabolite TA-G, 3-beta-D-glucopyranosyl analog of TA-077, were followed. The TA-G concentration reached a maximum at 7.0 +/- 2.3 min, and decreased thereafter with a half-life of 12.9 +/- 2.8 min. The time-course patterns and various pharmacokinetic parameters of TA-077 and TA-G were similar to those in the guinea pig, which, like humans, lacks plasma maltase activity. The 2 h-urinary excretion rate of TA-G in the above patients ranged from 0.15 to 7.7% of the dose. The areas under the concentration-time curve and maximal concentration values were both linearly correlated to the dose with correlation coefficients of 0.78 and 0.82, respectively. Repeated administration of TA-077 (29 to 40 N) for 5 or 6 consecutive days did not affect the pharmacokinetic parameters of TA-077 and TA-G in 7 cancer patients except for slight increases in the half-life and area under the curve of blood TA-G.