Paclitaxel News and Research

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Paclitaxel is a drug used to treat breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma. It is also used together with another drug to treat non-small cell lung cancer. Paclitaxel is also being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer. It blocks cell growth by stopping cell division and may kill cancer cells. It is a type of antimitotic agent. Also called Taxol.

The Paclitaxel compound is extracted from the Pacific yew tree Taxus brevifolia with antineoplastic activity. Paclitaxel binds to tubulin and inhibits the disassembly of microtubules, thereby resulting in the inhibition of cell division. This agent also induces apoptosis by binding to and blocking the function of the apoptosis inhibitor protein Bcl-2 (B-cell Leukemia 2). Check for active clinical trials or closed clinical trials using this agent.

Protein tumor necrosis factor-alpha is a powerful weapon to control cancer

The protein tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is a powerful weapon in the arsenal to control cancer. Unfortunately, as is the case with many potent cancer therapies, the use of TNF-alpha as an anti-cancer therapy has been severely limited.

8 May 2013

TGen receives donation from Seena Magowitz Foundation for pancreatic cancer research

The Seena Magowitz Foundation has donated $500,000 from two charity golf tournaments dedicated to supporting pancreatic cancer research at the Translational Genomics Research Institute.

24 Apr 2013

Study suggests lung cancer patients with HER2 mutations may benefit from anti-HER2 drugs

New results from a retrospective study conducted in Europe suggest that anti-HER2 treatments, like the widely used breast cancer agent trastuzumab (Herceptin), have anti-cancer effects in a small subset of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring specific HER2 protein mutations.

23 Apr 2013

Combination therapies may advance treatment for anaplastic thyroid cancer

A combination of therapies may prove to be a promising advance for the treatment of anaplastic thyroid cancer based on results of a phase I clinical trial, say researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida.

19 Apr 2013

Gabriel Hortobagyi recognized with AACR-MICR Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship

Gabriel Hortobagyi, M.D., professor in the Department of Breast Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, will receive the Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship from the American Association for Cancer Research and its Minorities in Cancer Research membership group.

12 Apr 2013

OncoMed highlights progress of anti-cancer biologics at AACR annual meeting

OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage company developing novel therapeutics that target cancer stem cells (CSCs), or tumor-initiating cells, today summarized new data highlighting the progress of OncoMed's pipeline of anti-cancer biologics presented this week in an oral presentation and five posters at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research in Washington, DC.

11 Apr 2013

Research: Paragazole makes triple-negative breast cancer cells express estrogen receptors

Breast cancers that lack estrogen receptors are more difficult to treat than ER+ cancers. Research presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 demonstrates an investigational drug, Paragazole, that makes triple-negative breast cancer cells express estrogen receptors, and that increases the sensitivity of these cells to chemotherapy.

9 Apr 2013

Sorrento Therapeutics, IGDRASOL to present updates on Cynviloq at Nanomedicine 2013 meeting

Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. and IGDRASOL announced today that IGDRASOL will be presenting updates of its analysis of proprietary late clinical stage NBN-Pac formulations, namely IG-001 (Cynviloq) and IG-004 (a D-a-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol succinate (TPGS)-based paclitaxel formulation) at the annual Nanomedicine 2013 meeting in Barcelona, Spain (April 11th - 12th).

8 Apr 2013

Duloxetine drug alleviates pain from chemotherapy

Among patients with painful chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, use of the anti-depressant drug duloxetine for 5 weeks resulted in a greater reduction in pain compared with placebo, according to a study in the April 3 issue of JAMA.

3 Apr 2013

IGDRASOL to present updates on Cynviloq at AACR annual meeting

Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. and IGDRASOL announced today that IGDRASOL will be presenting updates of its development of Cynviloq (IG-001) at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington, DC (April 6th to 10th).

1 Apr 2013

Phase 2 study of REOLYSIN meets primary endpoint in patients with squamous cell lung cancer

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. today announced that it has met the primary overall statistical endpoint in its U.S. Phase 2 single arm clinical trial in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung using intravenous administration of REOLYSIN in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel in patients with metastatic stage IIIB, or stage IV, or recurrent SCCLC who are chemotherapy naïve for their metastatic or recurrent cancer (REO 021).

28 Mar 2013

FOXC2 vital to epithelial-mesenchymal transition in breast cancer

Researchers have identified a pivotal protein in a cellular transformation that makes a cancer cell more resistant to treatment and more capable of growing and spreading, making it an inviting new target for drug development.

14 Feb 2013

New drug delivery system can reduce size of ovarian tumors by as much as 83%

By loading fragile RNA into silicon nanoparticles, researchers from The Methodist Hospital and two other institutions found a new drug delivery system can reduce the size of ovarian tumors by as much as 83 percent -- and stop tumor growth in chemotherapy-resistant ovarian cancer tissue.

13 Feb 2013

Positive results from NCI-sponsored bevacizumab trial on cervical cancer

Patients with advanced, recurrent, or persistent cervical cancer that was not curable with standard treatment who received the drug bevacizumab (Avastin) lived 3.7 months longer than patients who did not receive the drug, according to an interim analysis of a large, randomized clinical trial.

10 Feb 2013

Positive data from Oncolytics' REOLYSIN Phase 2 combination trial on SCCLC

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. today announced results examining percent overall tumour shrinkage data from its U.S. Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung (SCCLC) using intravenous administration of REOLYSIN in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel (REO 021).

9 Feb 2013

Verastem commences VS-6063 plus paclitaxel Phase 1/1b trial in advanced ovarian cancer

Verastem, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing drugs to treat cancer by the targeted killing of cancer stem cells, announced the initiation of a Phase 1/1b trial of VS-6063 in combination with paclitaxel for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer.

5 Feb 2013

DSMB recommends continuation of CTI’s OPAXIO Phase 3 trial on ovarian cancer

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) today announced that the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) informed CTI that an independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) recommended continuation of the GOG-0212 Phase 3 clinical trial of OPAXIOTM (paclitaxel poliglumex) as maintenance therapy in ovarian cancer with no changes following a planned interim survival analysis.

31 Jan 2013

STA announces results from ABRAXANE plus gemcitabine phase III trial on pancreatic cancer

Australian biopharmaceutical company Specialised Therapeutics Australia announces that a phase III clinical trial of world leading breast cancer drug ABRAXANE (nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel) in combination with current standard of care gemcitabine in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer has demonstrated substantially improved survival times, with double the number of patients surviving two years.

23 Jan 2013

Bevacizumab QoL impact highlighted in ovarian cancer patients

The ICON7 study results suggest that improved progression-free survival with bevacizumab therapy for high-risk ovarian cancer may come at the cost of health-related quality of life.

21 Jan 2013

Results from Morphotek’s farletuzumab Phase III combination study on ovarian cancer

Morphotek Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eisai Inc., announced today top-line results from a Phase III study of its investigational agent farletuzumab (MORAb-003) in combination with carboplatin and a taxane in patients with platinum-sensitive epithelial ovarian cancer in first relapse.

11 Jan 2013