DA-125, a new anthracycline derivative, shows significant anticancer activities. We conducted a study to examine the local irritating effect of DA-125 using mice and rabbits. In the skin test in mice, intradermal injection of 0.4 mg of DA-125, compared to a dosage of 0.2 mg of adriamycin, had weak irritating potentials to induce skin ulceration and erythematous induration. A dosage of 0.6 mg of DA-125 produced similar degree of lesions in perivascular irritation model to that of 0.2 mg of adriamycin, but the healing time was shorter in the case of mice treated with DA-125. In ocular irritation study in rabbit, the highest M.O.I.(mean ocular irritation index) of 0.5% DA-125 solution was 0.67, therefore DA-125 could be considered as a practically non-irritating anticancer agent. These results suggest that substitution of DA-125 for Adriamycin would reduces the possibility of outbreaks of local irritation and the severity of the lesions.