Anabolic profiles in late‐stage cancer patients responsive to hydrazine sulfate

Abstract

The anabolic profiles of 59 late‐stage cancer patients responsive to hydrazine sulfate were examined; the drug had been given either as a sole agent or added to preexisting therapy to which the patients had become refractory. Most of the patients (79.7%) responded with Indicated Appetite Improvement (IAI), expressed by protocol‐code, clinical evaluation and/or direct quantitation. In those patients receiving hydrazine sulfate alone the IAI was 86.1%; in those in whom hydrazine sulfate was added to pre‐existing therapy the IAI was 69.6%. Of those cases expressed in direct quantitation the average weight gain for patients receiving hydrazine sulfate alone was 8.2 lbs, whereas the average weight gain for those with pre‐existing therapy was 0.6 lbs (p = 0.01). The results suggest the use of hydrazine sulfate as a specific chemotherapy for cancer cachexia, and implicate ineffective concurrent or prior therapy as an apparent negative factor in the generation of anabolic response.