HairSite - Library

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• ONCONASE® - ANTICANCER TREATMENT WITHOUT
  HAIR LOSS

• HairSite Editorial - 4/28/98

• Alfacell Corp. Press Release - 8/15/97

• David Tse HairSite@aol.com

Every now and then I have received emails from people inquiring about hair loss caused by cancer treatments. As a result, I decided to include articles that also focus on cancer treatment and hair loss.

For people who need to go through anti-cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and have been suffering from hair loss as a result, there is good news on the horizon. A new anti-cancer treatment - Onconase® ( or "P-30") will soon be available. Onconase is a product that is currently being researched and studied by Alfacell Corp. in New Jersey. Alfacell specialized in the research and development of therapeutic compounds based upon the isolation and purification of ribonucleases ("RNases") from natural sources.

According to Alfacell, Onconase® consists of a kind of novel protein derived from eggs of the leopard frog (species classification Rana pipiens). Based on clinical testing in the past 10 years, Onconase has been proven to be effective in enhancing the potency of a variety of chemotherapy drugs with little side effects. Unlike the majority of chemotherapy drugs, which are effective in killing cancer cells as well as healthy human cells, Onconase is relatively benign to the human body. Side effects are primarily kidney related and are reversible upon discontinuation of the drug. Specifically, there have been no reported incidences of hair loss among patients receiving the drug.  The amount of evidence supporting these claims consists of over 30 professional papers and presentations appearing in publication such as The International Journal of Oncology, The Journal of Biological Chemistry and the Journal of The National Cancer Institute etc.

Onconase has been successfully tested with other anti-cancer drugs including Taxol, tamoxifen, vincristine, doxorubicin and cisplatin etc. As of August 1997, Onconase was in phase III clinical trials in combination with tamoxifen for pancreatic cancer and in phase III trials as a single agent for malignant mesothelioma, both of which are highly resistant to standard or traditional chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Alfacell expects that Onconase will be available in the market in 1999.