Paclitaxel News and Research

RSS

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.

Trial of Topotecan following Carboplatin and Paclitaxel in treatment of ovarian cancer

The drug topotecan does not increase survival for ovarian cancer patients when used with standard chemotherapy in first-line treatment and is not recommended for future use.

2 Aug 2006

Buckyballs deliver multiple drugs simultaneously to tumors

Combining a monoclonal antibody known to target melanoma tumors with multiple C60 buckyballs, researchers at Rice University and the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have developed a new way to deliver multiple drugs simultaneously to tumors.

3 Jul 2006

Injection may prevent infertility in men receiving cancer chemotherapy

It may be possible to protect the testes of cancer patients against the loss of fertility caused by chemotherapy.

20 Jun 2006

Gleevec strangles drug-resistant, metastatic prostate cancer

A medication used to treat other types of cancer strangles drug-resistant, metastatic prostate cancer by cutting off its blood supply, researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the June 7 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

7 Jun 2006

HERA trial continues to demonstrate significant patient benefits from Herceptin

New 23-month follow-up data from HERA, one of the largest breast cancer trials ever carried out, show that Herceptin (trastuzumab) following standard chemotherapy significantly reduced the risk of death by 34% for women with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer.

5 Jun 2006

Advancing nanoparticle-based imaging and therapy of brain cancer

Brain cancer is one of the most difficult malignancies to detect and treat, in large part because of the difficulty in getting imaging and therapeutic agents past the so-called blood-brain barrier and into the brain.

9 May 2006

Benefit of chemotherapy in breast cancer depends on estrogen status of tumors

When it comes to chemotherapy treatment for women whose breast cancer has spread to their lymph nodes, the estrogen status of their tumors matters, says a team of researchers in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

11 Apr 2006

Biodegradable drug containing nano-particles effective in killing human breast tumors

Research studies, based at the University of Pennsylvania, demonstrate that biodegradable nano-particles containing two potent cancer-fighting drugs are effective in killing human breast tumors.

11 Apr 2006

Researchers find environmentally friendly ways to produce more Taxol

As the effective cancer-treatment drug Taxol enters its next generation, Michigan State University announces discoveries which point to both environmentally friendly ways to produce more Taxol, and ultimately innovations to produce a more potent second-generation drug.

28 Mar 2006

Trial of paclitaxel with or without bevacizumab as first-line therapy for locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer

Results from a large, randomised clinical trial for patients with breast cancer show that those who received bevacizumab (Avastin.) in combination with paclitaxel (Taxol.) survived without the disease getting worse for almost twice as long as patients who received paclitaxel alone.

23 Mar 2006

Impact of a scientific presentation on community treatment patterns for primary breast cancer

The oral presentation of data from a single study at a national scientific conference can have an important impact on patient treatment, even before study publication or Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval

15 Mar 2006

Stents that release the drug paclitaxel to treat stenosis more effective than radiation therapy

Insertion of stents that release the drug paclitaxel to treat stenosis within an implanted bare-metal stent in a coronary artery reduces the risk of subsequent re-narrowing within the stent, when compared with treatment using intra-coronary radiation

13 Mar 2006

Drug-eluting stents best treatment for managing coronary restenosis

In the first published trial of its kind, a multi-center clinical study has shown that drug-eluting stents outperform the current "gold standard" radiation treatment in managing coronary restenosis and in preventing further clogging of coronary arteries.

13 Mar 2006

Angiotech to appeal judgement regarding UK patent

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals has announced that it intends to appeal a UK trial court decision to revoke Angiotech's UK designation of its European Patent No. 0,706,376.

24 Feb 2006

Coronary stents that release the drugs sirolimus or paclitaxel produce similar results

Use of coronary stents that release the drugs sirolimus or paclitaxel produced similar results in patients with new coronary artery lesions, according to a study in JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

24 Feb 2006

Mangafodipir appears to increase the cancer-killing ability of some chemotherapy drugs

A contrast agent currently used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), called mangafodipir, may increase the cancer-killing ability of some chemotherapy drugs while protecting normal cells, according to a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

21 Feb 2006

Abdominal chemotherapy boosts survival in ovarian cancer patients

Women with Stage III ovarian cancer given a combination of intravenous and intraperitoneal chemotherapy following surgical debulking of tumor had a median survival nearly 16 months longer than women who received IV chemotherapy alone

10 Jan 2006

Intraperitoneal chemotherapy prolongs survival for women with advanced ovarian cancer

A study featured in this month's edition of Gynecologic Oncology examines the challenges associated with the administration of intra-abdominal chemotherapy, also known as intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy.

8 Jan 2006

New hope for patients with metastatic melanoma

Patients with metastatic melanoma (MM) have new hope, says a recently published study by Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. The study, which shows the combination of paclitaxel and carboplatin (PC) appears to be effective for MM when traditional treatments have failed, is in this month's issue of Cancer.

6 Jan 2006

Delivering chemotherapy directly into the abdomen boosts survival in ovarian cancer patients

A 50-year-old method for delivering chemotherapy directly into the abdomen is making a comeback as investigators have found that it increases survival - by more than a year - in some women with advanced ovarian cancer. Results from a seven-year study of more than 400 patients nationwide are published in the New England Journal of Medicine.