Hydrazine sulfate and cancer cachexia

Experience of the treatment with Sehydrin (Hydrazine Sulfate, HS) in the advanced cancer patients

The results of Sehydrin (Hydrazine Sulfate, HS) treatment of 740 patients with the advanced, recurrent or metastatic solid tumours of various localizations or malignant lymphomas, for whom all the methods of specific treatment (surgery, radiation, chemotherapy) had been exhausted are presented in this work. The objective response, symptomatic therapeutic effects and toxicity were estimated. Clinically significant objective responses were registered in patients with the soft tissue sarcomas, including neuroblastomas, and paradoxically--in such semimalignant tumours as desmoids. Although the objective response in patients with the lung cancer (90%--non-small cell) was only 4%, stabilization of long duration was registered in 22% of cases connected with the impressive relief of heavy common symptoms in 38.5% of the treated patients. Such a subjective response was established in 46.6% of all the 740 cases. The drug given per os was well tolerated by patients in primary and subsequent courses and did not induce myelosuppression or other significant side effects. On the basis of observations available, Sehydrin may be assessed as an alternative drug for the treatment and symptomatic therapy of patients with some advanced solid tumours and malignant lymphomas at a disease stage when the other methods of treatment can not be used. A possible mechanism of antitumour and symptomatic action is being discussed.

Hydrazine sulfate: a current perspective

Hydrazine sulfate is an anticachexia agent which interrupts host energy wasting as a result of the malignant process. An inhibitor of gluconeogenesis at the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEP CK) reaction, this agent has been shown in randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trials to improve glucose tolerance, reduce glucose turnover, increase caloric intake, and increase or stabilize weight; in single-arm controlled trials, this agent has been shown to increase appetite, improve performance status, decrease pain, diminish anorexia, normalize laboratory indices, stabilize tumor growth, induce tumor regression, and promote survival, while inducing little to no important clinical side effects. In view of its demonstrated capacity to effect anticancer response, this drug is suggested for trial as a sole agent in early drug-resistant cancer, in combination with cytotoxic and related therapies, and in conjunction with total parenteral nutrition. It is postulated that effective control of the mechanisms associated associated with cancer cachexia may contribute to control of malignant disease.

Anorexia and weight loss: indicators of cachexia in small cell lung cancer

A study was conducted to determine the incidence and extent to which anorexia, a decrease in spontaneous food intake, contributes to the occurrence of cancer cachexia. Data for ten male subjects with small cell carcinoma of the lung are reported for a five-month period following diagnosis. Although body weights of the subjects at the time of diagnosis averaged less than 95% of the usual weight (weight 6 months prior to diagnosis), they were greater than 109% of the mean ideal weight. At five months, the mean weight (N = 8) was 88% of the preillness weight. From the time of diagnosis, there was a mean loss of 7.2 kg (15.8 lb). The urinary creatinine excretion was below the normal range, whereas the urinary urea nitrogen values were within the normal range. At the time of diagnosis, the mean triceps skin-fold measurements were approximately 80% of the standard reference for males. During the five-month period, the mean midarm muscle circumference determinations remained greater than 90% of the reference standard. The mean serum transferrin values were 10% or more below the reported lower range of normal, whereas the great majority of the serum albumin values were 3.0 g/dl or above during the five-month period. The mean caloric intake of 2,204 kcal at the time of diagnosis was only 86% of the estimated basal energy expenditure (BEE) times a factor of 1.5 used to account for moderate activity. Four months following diagnosis, the mean caloric intake had fallen to 1,702 kcal, only 67% of the BEE X 1.5 (calculated from the weight at diagnosis). The findings provide evidence of a decline in spontaneous food intake, a small decrease in body fat, and a greater than 13% weight loss. The oral intake was less than adequate for any activity beyond the basal state. Decreased intake could account for most of the weight loss observed in the subjects.

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

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 which 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.