Word: began
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...began reading the medical literature and calling scientists. Eventually he talked to Dr. Randall Burt, now the chief of gastroenterology at the University of Utah. Coincidentally, Burt had just heard University of Colorado surgeon William Waddell tell a scientific meeting that he had seen an aspirin-like arthritis drug called sulindac (Merck) almost miraculously melt away colon polyps. The finding was anecdotal, observed in only a few patients, but it was just what Nichols wanted to hear...
...Nichols began calling pharmaceutical houses in the U.S. and Europe, telling them that if they started making sulindac it would save thousands of lives. But it was about to come off patent, and as a generic drug it didn't offer much of a payoff because of the likelihood of competitive products and lower prices. Moreover, FAP--Nichols' cancer--is a so-called orphan disease, afflicting only 25,000 Americans, so there wasn't much of a market for it. Thanks, but no thanks, the drugmakers said...
Encouraged, Nichols' scientists began testing the compound, designated FGN-1, on lab animals. It seemed effective against several types of cancers--breast, lung and bladder--but the animals lost weight. That raised a question: Was it the drug or the weight loss that was providing the anti-cancer action? When the scientists repeated the experiments at lower doses, the animals improved without losing weight. "We got a beautiful dose response," says Pamukcu...
...Nichols' company finally began testing FGN-1 on humans. In a trial of 18 patients with FAP, 12 showed substantial improvement. One patient, who was developing about 100 polyps a year, had no polyps at all while on the drug. This led to another, larger double-blind study with one group taking a placebo, the other FGN-1. But midway it was discovered that the recruitment of patients had been mishandled and a year's worth of work was lost. Still, Nichols could see that in a core group of subjects the drug was working as he had hoped...
...just as he seemed on the verge of a great success, Nichols began losing weight. This time the diagnosis was stomach cancer. Nichols launched into a search for yet another treatment. But the malignant cells were too aggressive. "He just finally realized he wasn't going to come back from it," says Lynn. Nichols died in May 1996, at 43, but by then he knew the work was probably well enough along on FGN-1 for it to be there for his son and other kids...