The new class of compounds could be less harmful than current cancer treatments on the market such as cisplatin and carboplatin because they don't penetrate the cell nucleus and attach to DNA, said lead author Rathindra Bose, who conducted the work while at Northern Illinois University.

Conventional drugs can interfere with the functions of the cell's enzymes, which lead to side effects such as hearing and hair loss and kidney dysfunction, Bose said.

Although scientists don't fully understand the mechanism by which the phosphaplatins kill cancer cells, they suspect that the compounds bind to the cell surface membrane proteins and transmit a "death signal" to the interior of the cell, Bose said.

The compounds are created by attaching platinum to a phosphate ligand, which can readily anchor to the cell membrane. Future studies will focus on identifying the exact process.

"The findings suggest a paradigm shift in potential molecular targets for platinum anticancer drugs and in their strategic development," Bose said in a statement.

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that the phosphaplatins can kill ovarian cells at half of the dosage of conventional drugs but are just as potent.