Announcements

** Advanced KS: Liposomal Doxorubicin Trial Recruiting, Many
Cities

Liposomal doxorubicin (brand name DOXIL) is an experimental
form of the standard Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) chemotherapy drug
doxorubicin. Liposomal drugs are contained in microscopic
balls of fat, which can greatly improve delivery to the site
where they are needed, allowing more effective doses of the
drug to be used, and with less toxicity.

Two different studies of DOXIL are now recruiting:

* The largest is a randomized trial comparing DOXIL to a
standard treatment, ABV [Adriamycin (another name for
doxorubicin), bleomycin, and vincristine], for advanced KS.
About 100 patients will be randomly assigned to receive each
treatment, at about 30 research centers in the U.S. Those who
fail on the standard therapy in this trial will be allowed to
try DOXIL. This trial includes six cycles of treatment, at
two-week intervals, with additional visits for laboratory
work on the off weeks, plus additional pre-treatment and
followup visits. To find the site nearest you, call the phone
number below.

* The other, more limited, trial is for patients who have
already failed ABV (or BV). They will be given open-label
DOXIL, so that they will not be randomized to receive the
standard treatment which is known to not work for them.

For more information about either of these trials, call the
KS HelpLine run by the drug developer, Liposome Technology,
Inc., of Menlo Park, California. The number is 800-KAPOSIS,
and the hours are 9 to 5 Pacific time, Monday through Friday.

Comment

Kaposi's sarcoma treatment research has typically moved very
slowly, because KS is not a big enough market to interest
pharmaceutical companies. DOXIL is an exception. It is being
developed very rapidly for KS, because it will likely also be
an important improvement for the treatment of certain
cancers. KS is not really a cancer. But because the lesions
are easy to see and measure, KS provides a fast route to
proving that the drug can be useful in medicine, justifying
initial approval; then physicians will use the drug for KS,
and also use it off-label for cancer. While consumer-
protection purists might object, this seems to be a win-win
situation, benefiting people with AIDS and people with cancer
as well. Much of cancer chemotherapy is off-label anyway; and
by the time DOXIL is approved for KS, its human toxicity will
be well known -- and probably much less than that of the
standard chemotherapy the cancer patients who receive it
would otherwise face.


** San Francisco: NAC Trial Recruiting

An eight-week trial of NAC (N-acetylcysteine), coordinated by
the Herzenberg Laboratory at Stanford University, is now
recruiting. The study will be conducted in the Castro
district in San Francisco. Its purpose is to learn
definitively whether oral NAC can replenish glutathione
levels inside T-cells of persons with HIV. (Glutathione
levels are often low in HIV infection. It is believed that
low glutathione levels may cause the T-cells to work less
well, and may also cause faster replication of HIV.)

Volunteers will be assigned to take either a large dose of
NAC (a total of 9600 mg per day, several times the dose in
common use), or placebo, for eight weeks. The study requires
eight lab visits to the San Francisco site.

Volunteers must be HIV positive, at least 18 years old, and
with a T-helper count between 0 and 500. If they are taking
AZT, ddI, ddC, d4T, or 3TC, they must have been taking them
for at least four months. They must also agree not to start
any new nucleoside analogs, antioxidants, antivirals, or
immune modulator medications during the eight-week trial.
They cannot already be taking NAC, OTC, cysteine, or
glutathione. They cannot currently have an acute
opportunistic infection requiring treatment, or have chronic
diarrhea. There are other medical exclusion conditions, but
they should affect relatively few patients.

For more information, call Debra Fila, R.N., or Greg Dubs,
Ph.D., at 415/863-8090.


** Help Wanted: AIDS Treatment Specialist, Atlanta

The Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of People
with AIDS is seeking a Treatment Resource Specialist. This
program-management position involves treatment activism as
well as supervising and maintaining a large treatment
resource library. Applicants need the ability to work with a
wide variety of people, strong writing skills, the ability to
promote seminars and forums, strong knowledge of HIV
treatments and treatment issues, and the desire and ability
to advocate for treatment reform in Georgia. Salary range
$21,000 - 24,000 annually.

If interested, send resume and cover letter to: Mark King,
Executive Director, Atlanta NAPWA, 44 12th St. NE, Atlanta,
GA 30309. No phone calls, please. HIV positive encouraged to
apply.


** Spanish Treatment Information: Boletn de Tratamientos
Experimentales para el SIDA

BETA, the Bulletin of Experimental Treatments for AIDS, is
published in English four times a year by the San Francisco
AIDS Foundation. Starting in September 1993, a Spanish-
language BETA, Boletin de Tratamientos Experimentales para el
SIDA, is also being published on the same schedule (March,
June, September, and December).

Para informacion sobre subscripciones, llame gratis al 1-800-
959-1059. FAX 510-549-4342. Correspondencia editorial: P.O.
Box 426182, SaniFrancisco, CA 94142. FAX 415-552-1583. Tel.
415-863-2437 (Lnea de Informacion sobre el SIDA de la San
Francisco AIDS Foundation).


** Minneapolis: Skills Building Conference on Influencing
HIV/AIDS Policy, Oct. 12

A one-day workshop on the nuts and bolts of lobbying,
grassroots organizing, and coalition building, sponsored by
the Minnesota AIDS Funding Consortium and the Upper Midwest
AIDS Coalition, will take place Tuesday, October 12, from 8
a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Plymouth Congregational Church, 1900
Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota. It's focus will
include Washington and Minnesota issues, how to get involved
and influence policy, and strategies which have been
successful in Minnesota on similar issues. There is no fee to
attend. To register and reserve lunch, call the Minnesota
AIDS Project, 612/870-7773.


** California Legislation: Breast Cancer Good News; Others by
October 10th

Our last issue urged California residents to call Governor
Wilson's office to urge him to sign several bills supported
by the LIFE AIDS Lobby in Sacramento. As we went to press, we
learned that he will sign one of the bills, a 2-cent
cigarette tax expected to raise over $30 million for breast
cancer research and prevention, at a ceremony on October 1.
This bill is widely supported by AIDS organizations; since
both research efforts rest on the same basic medical
knowledge, progress against one disease will accelerate
progress against the other.

As we go to press, Wilson has not yet decided on the other
bills:

* AB 1100 and SB 590, insurance reform to stop "post claims
underwriting," dropping people after they start to file
claims for an expensive illness.

* AB 260, to allow clean needle exchange in local areas that
want it. (Our last issue mistakenly said that the bill
applied only to San Francisco.)

* SB 670, to protect the confidentiality of T-helper tests,
now misused by insurance companies.

* AB 623, set up licensure requirements for Residential Care
Facilities for the Chronically Ill.

You can call Governor Wilson's office at 916/445-2864
(Sacramento), or 415/703-2218 (San Francisco).