Novel 3-amino-2-(4-chloro-2-mercaptobenzenesulfonyl)guanidine derivatives have been synthesized as potential anticancer agents. The in vitro antitumor activity of these compounds has been evaluated in the US National Cancer Institute (NCI), and relationships between structure and antitumor activity are discussed. The prominent compound was 1-allyl-2-[4-chloro-5-(4-chlorophenylcarbamoyl)-2-methylthiobenzenesulfonyl]-3-(5-nitrofurfurylideneamino)guanidine (8) with remarkable activity against 21 human tumor cell lines representing leukemia, lung, colon, melanoma, ovarian, renal, prostate and breast (GI(50)=0.3-3.0microM), and selectivity toward leukemia RPMI-8226 cell line (GI(50)=0.3microM, TGI=1.4microM).