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.

Addition of dasatinib to standard chemo cocktail may enhance effect in certain ovarian cancers

The addition of a chemotherapeutic drug for leukemia to a standard regimen of two other chemotherapy drugs appears to enhance the response of certain ovarian cancers to treatment, according to a pre-clinical study led by researchers in the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center.

20 Apr 2009

OncoGel: New system for delivering chemotherapy for patients with esophageal cancer

Gastroenterologists at Rush University Medical Center are studying the safety and efficacy of a new system for delivering chemotherapy for patients with esophageal cancer, a rare, but deadly disease that attacks the throat.

15 Apr 2009

FDA grants Oasmia's Paclical orphan drug designation for ovarian cancer in U.S.

Oasmia Pharmaceutical, Uppsala, Sweden, has been granted Orphan Drug designation by the USA FDA of Paclical for the treatment of ovarian cancer.

14 Apr 2009

New therapy for metastatic prostate cancer shows promise

A new therapy for metastatic prostate cancer has shown considerable promise in early clinical trials involving patients whose disease has become resistant to current drugs.

12 Apr 2009

Boston Scientific announces Japanese launch of Taxus Liberte drug-eluting stent system

Boston Scientific Corporation has announced the launch of its TAXUS Liberte Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System in Japan.

2 Apr 2009

Trial reinforces safety and efficacy of Boston Scientific's two drug-eluting stent platforms

Boston Scientific Corporation has welcomed three-year results from the SPIRIT II Clinical Trial and a pooled meta-analysis of two-year data from the SPIRIT II and III Trials.

29 Mar 2009

Biothera receives approval to launch two lung cancer trials

German regulatory authorities have granted approval to Biothera to conduct two open label, multicenter, randomized Phase II clinical trials studying Imprime PGGÂ® administered in combination with monoclonal antibodies and chemotherapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the company announced today.

12 Mar 2009

Oncolytics Biotech (TSX:ONC, NASDAQ:ONCY) starts U.S. enrolment in trial for non-small cell lung cancer patients

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. has announced that it has started patient enrolment in a Phase 2 clinical trial using intravenous administration of Reolysin in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with K-RAS or EGFR-activated tumours.

12 Mar 2009

Boston Scientific launches Taxus Liberte drug-eluting stent in Japan

Boston Scientific Corporation has announced the launch of its TAXUS Liberte Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System in Japan.

3 Mar 2009

New technology rapidly detects tumor response to chemotherapy

New technology developed by Duke University bioengineers can help clinicians more precisely detect whether specific cancer drugs are working, and should give basic researchers a powerful new tool to better understand the underlying mechanisms of cancer development.

2 Feb 2009

Drug-coated stents less risky for heart bypass patients

Coronary bypass surgery may carry less risk of serious complications if stents coated with a drug that suppresses cell growth are used in the procedure rather than bare-metal stents, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers and colleagues have found.

23 Jan 2009

Invatec launches drug-eluting balloon to treat atherosclerosis below the knee

Invatec, a comprehensive innovator of interventional products, today announced the European launch of a new peripheral balloon, the IN.PACT Amphirion paclitaxel-eluting PTA balloon catheter.

15 Jan 2009

Metadherin gene linked to metastasis of breast cancer

A team of researchers at Princeton University and The Cancer Institute of New Jersey has identified a long-sought gene that is fatefully switched on in 30 to 40 percent of all breast cancer patients, spreading the disease, resisting traditional chemotherapies and eventually leading to death.

5 Jan 2009

Abbott starts trial of 2.25 mm stent system

Abbott has announced the start of SPIRIT Small Vessel, a clinical trial evaluating a 2.25 mm size of the XIENCE V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System.

17 Dec 2008

Tau protein expression predicts breast cancer survival in an unexpected way

Expression of the microtubule-binding protein Tau is not a reliable means of selecting breast cancer patients for adjuvant paclitaxel chemotherapy, according to research led by The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

14 Dec 2008

Amgen, Takeda and Millennium update on phase 3 trial of Motesanib in non-small cell lung cancer

Amgen and Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, a subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited , today announced that enrollment in the Phase 3 MONET1 trial evaluating motesanib (AMG 706) in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin for the first-line treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been temporarily suspended following a planned safety data review of 600 patients by the study's independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC). Motesanib is part of a broad co-development program between Amgen and Takeda.

19 Nov 2008

Protein enzyme BubR1 provides new understanding of processes behind cancer-cell survival and drug-resistance

A study of how one protein enzyme, BubR1, helps make sure chromosomes are equally distributed during mitosis might explain how the process of cell division goes so awry in cancer, according to researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center.

17 Nov 2008

Combination of carboplatin and paclitaxel with bevacizumab and cetuximab proves safe for lung cancer treatment

The four drug-combination of carboplatin and paclitaxel, with the targeted therapies bevacizumab (Avastin) and cetuximab (Erbitux), is safe and may improve survival for patients with advanced lung cancer, according to a cooperative group study led by The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

16 Nov 2008

Traditional chemotherapy agents with targeted therapies improves survival in advance-stage lung cancer

The combination of traditional chemotherapy agents with targeted therapies called monoclonal antibodies showed no safety concerns and improved survival in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer according to a study presented at the 2008 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology, sponsored by ASTRO, ASCO, IASLC and the University of Chicago.