Doctors dedication prompts patients gift

$1M pledged to support Dr. Razas research

By Elizabeth Cooney TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
ecooney@telegram.com
Radhey Khanna felt he was almost out of time when he first met Dr. Azra Raza.
She gave him hope for the future; now he has pledged to do the same for her.
An electrical engineer turned real estate investor who lives in New Hampshire, Mr. Khanna has pledged $1
million to support Dr. Razas research on myelodysplastic syndrome, a disorder in which patients blood cell
counts fall dangerously low. Many of them go on to develop leukemia.
Two and a half years ago, doctors told Mr. Khanna he had MDS but there was no treatment or cure. They
thought he might be helped by a new drug once it was approved by federal drug regulators.
At the time he just felt fatigued, but his condition grew worse. Eventually he needed frequent blood
transfusions and was unable to walk. Then he felt he could no longer wait.
I was willing to spend any amount of money, I was willing to travel anywhere, he said recently. Its a pretty
sad situation when nobody can do anything at all.
A friend who was a researcher at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute mentioned that Dr. Raza had moved her
MDS Center to UMass Memorial Medical Center from Chicago. Maybe she could help him get the drug, he
suggested.
After their first meeting nine months ago, Dr. Raza was encouraging. While not able to get him the Revlimid
he was waiting for, she did enroll him in an experimental trial using thalidomide, the drug that caused
birth defects 50 years ago but has been revived to treat leprosy and multiple myeloma. Revlimid, still
not approved, is an improved version of thalidomide, lacking its side effects but targeting a similar
cellular process that goes awry in MDS.
The thalidomide treatment worked right away for Mr. Khanna, who turned 60 last month.
I was not able to walk when I came to the hospital, he said. With the experimental treatment, I started to
walk and I believe it is still working. The disease has been arrested.
He now plays golf and tennis, looking in from time to time on his real estate business in Londonderry, N.H.,
which his son took over from him.
Im now pretty much retired. I try to keep the stress level low and the blood levels high, he said.
He keeps his fingers crossed about his continued good health, which he attributes to Dr. Razas willingness
to do her best for him.
I felt Dr. Raza was truly looking to help me by whatever it takes, he said. The positive attitude she had was
exceptional.
He talked with Dr. Raza about an article he had seen about financier Michael Milken, who has funded
research into the connection between lifestyle, including diet, and prostate cancer.
Im not Michael Milken, but I spoke to Dr. Raza and asked her if there was anything I can do, he said. Im
extremely happy to have pledged $1 million. If I live longer, Ill give more.
Dr. Raza plans to use his gift to establish a center to study natural substances in the prevention and
treatment of cancer. In her proposal, she points to the dramatic differences in the incidence of cancer in the
United States and India. Breast cancer occurs in 660 of 1 million women a year in the United States but in

only 79 women per million per year in India. The disparity is even greater for lung cancer 660 per million
here but 38 per million there, even though smoking is much more prevalent in India.
Dr. Raza believes that the American diet is to blame, but not the usual culprits of too much fat or red meat.
Its not what you are eating, but what you are not eating, she said.
Indian diets include generous amounts of spices, some of which have proven anti-oxidant benefits. Two of
the best studied are ginger and curcumin, which is the ingredient in turmeric that gives much of Indian food
its yellow color. Curcumin has been shown in laboratory tests to block the growth of pancreatic cancer,
multiple myeloma and melanoma cells.
Dr. Raza is committed to investigating natural substances such as spices in the hope of offering patients
alternatives to chemotherapy.
I am committed to developing nontoxic therapies, she said. I am one of the few people who straddle both
East and West. In a way, here I can combine the two.
Dr. Richard Stone, director of the adult leukemia program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, called Dr. Raza a
beacon of hope for MDS patients. He also described her as a one who doesnt follow the usual paradigms,
with her interest in natural substances as an example.
A lot of mainstream doctors in this country shy away from this kind of stuff, but she has a biological rationale
for it, he said. She is her own person and she does what she wants.
Her patient and benefactor Mr. Khanna feels indebted to UMass and hopes his gift helps and inspires
others.
A native of India, he also intends to repay Stony Brook University, where he studied engineering for 18
months before embarking on a career that took him to Digital Equipment Corp. and Prime Computer, among
other companies.
The school gave me everything. I was basically penniless when I came here, he said. I think those who
benefit from peoples generosity should return the favor.