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.