June 2005 Newsletter Dear Friend, As the summer season approaches I am happy to report to you spectacular news. First, to bring you up to date on current sponsorship of a clinical study of the effects of hydrazine sulfate, the anti-cancer drug developed by the Institute, on glioblastoma multiforme (an otherwise fatal brain cancer), to take place in India. This is to be a double-blind, placebo-controlled study composed of patients receiving hydrazine sulfate + radiation therapy vs. placebo + radiation therapy. The study, to take place at King George’s Medical University in Lucknow, India, is moving forward. If it is found that hydrazine sulfate affects glioblastoma multiforme patients in the same beneficial manner as in a small uncontrolled published study (Problems in Oncology 40:332-336), it could have a sizeable effect on the treatment of all brain cancers everywhere. Discussions with North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York, for a similar study remain on track, but due to a change in oncology staff and a change in North Shore’s Institutional Review Board (IRB), this proposed joint clinical study is still pending. We are hopeful of reporting progress in the fall of this year. Our outreach program—for dissemination of information to cancer patients everywhere—has reached worldwide proportions. As a result, the Institute has launched its Global Outreach Program. This program supplies research and related information to the general public, maintains up-to-date Web site data and information that can be accessed anywhere, and discusses with physicians specific oncology problems raised by their patients, all at no cost to physicians or patients alike. It is estimated that this program has aided thousands of patients the world over with cancer and constitutes one of the true beacons of hope for those afflicted with this disease. The spectacular news is that the drug hydrazine sulfate has at last achieved pharmaceutical sponsorship. This means that a pharmaceutical company is now registering and marketing this drug under approval of the various countries in which the drug is marketed. Physicians in these countries simply write a prescription for this drug, which is filled in any drug store (pharmacy). The name of the company is Pharmsynthez. It is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the trade name for hydrazine sulfate is Sehydrin. Recent information indicates the company has registered and is marketing this drug in Russia and in the Ukraine and that registration in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is pending. Upon completion of additional clinical trials in 2005, the company hopes to begin registration of this drug in countries of the European Community and in the United States. The Syracuse Cancer Research Institute has no financial arrangements with Pharmsynthez and receives no financial benefits from Pharmsynthez’s sponsorship of this drug. However, the important consideration is that more and more people are now receiving Sehydrin under physician direction, and the prospect for patient improvement—even late-stage cancer patients—is substantial. In concert with pharmaceutical sponsorship is the inclusion of a discussion of hydrazine sulfate as the lead article of the March 2005 issue of Dr. Julian Whitaker’s (M.D.) monthly newsletter, Health & Healing. Dr. Whitaker’s newsletter goes to over a half-million subscribers each month and is well respected by both the medical and lay community. The inclusion of hydrazine sulfate as a lead article under the heading Cancer Therapy reflects this drug’s increasing use by oncologists and physicians throughout the United States. A copy of the March issue may be obtained by calling (800) 539-8219. As can be appreciated by the above developments, this year our needs for funds—to continue our life-expanding and life-saving programs—has become enormous. You can see how many lives hang in the balance of what we do and what we don’t do. What we can do, and what we can’t. You hold the key. Your help and contributions make the difference. The dollars you supply—the grants and trusts and policies and legacies—make possible the continuation of our efforts which are now resulting in very tangible inroads against a disease which, despite the massive effort that has gone into fighting it, has failed to materially give ground. You hold the power to expand the leverage we have now gained against this dread disease. I ask that as this summer season approaches you give thought to sponsoring our major effort in silencing this disease, taming it, eradicating it, relieving or eliminating the suffering it brings—in essence, in helping generate a “summer season” for those who are or may become its victims. We earnestly solicit your help. And please remember we are ever-ready to respond to any questions you may have. With warmest wishes. Sincerely, Joseph Gold, M.D. Director This page is hosted by Next Generation Computer Systems, and is the property of the Syracuse Cancer Research Institute. © 1996, Syracuse Cancer Research Institute. All rights reserved. Last modified on 6 June 2005.