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.

MTI awards $25,000 grant to MDI Biological Laboratory scientist for peripheral neuropathy research

The Maine Technology Institute has awarded a $25,000 seed grant to Sandra Rieger, Ph.D., of the MDI Biological Laboratory to study peripheral neuropathy, a condition that causes pain, tingling and numbness in the hands and feet and affects an estimated 20 to 40 million Americans.

13 Sep 2017

Study finds potential preventive for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, or CIPN, is a common side effect of cancer treatment that causes shooting or burning pain, numbness, tingling and cold sensitivity of the hands and feet for many cancer patients.

13 Sep 2017

Study: Chemoradiation should remain standard treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer

A 14-year randomised trial in more than 600 patients has concluded that chemoradiation should remain the standard treatment for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer. The findings are reported today at the ESMO 2017 Congress in Madrid. The trial demonstrated no improved disease-free survival with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery.

11 Sep 2017

Trial confirms standard three-week dosing of chemotherapy as first line treatment in ovarian cancer

European women with ovarian cancer can safely stick to the standard three-week dosing schedule for paclitaxel rather than boosting up to a weekly dose-dense regimen, according to results of the phase III ICON8 trial to be presented at the ESMO 2017 Congress in Madrid.

4 Sep 2017

UC San Diego researchers receive $18.2 million grant for B cell cancer clinical trial

The Independent Citizens Oversight Committee of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine today unanimously approved an $18.29 million grant to University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers to fund a phase Ib/IIa clinical trial of a novel combination drug therapy for B-cell cancers.

26 Aug 2017

Researchers find clues to how chemotherapy drug fuels cancer spread from the breast to lungs

The very same treatment that thwarts breast cancer has a dark side – it can fuel the spread of the disease to the lungs.

8 Aug 2017

Two cell types partner to protect pancreatic tumors from immune attack

Two cell types work together to protect pancreatic tumors from destruction by the immune system. But, blocking this partnership may restore the system's ability to attack these same tumor cells.

19 Jul 2017

Immunotherapy combination offers new hope for women with early stage triple negative breast cancer

A Yale Cancer Center clinical trial combining the immune checkpoint inhibitor (durvalumab/MEDI4736) with chemotherapy as preoperative treatment for early stage triple negative breast cancer disclosed a 71% pathologic complete response to the combination treatment in the initial phase I trial.

2 Jun 2017

Rice University scientists develop and evaluate analogs of potent cancer fighters

Rice University scientists have developed and evaluated analogs of potent anti-tumor agents known as epothilones using designs and methods that both improve their biological properties and simplify their manufacture.

31 May 2017

New study offers insight into how to improve chemotherapy strategies for ovarian cancer

Most women diagnosed with ovarian cancer undergo surgery to remove as many of the tumors as possible. However, it is usually impossible to eliminate all of the cancer cells because they have spread throughout the abdomen. Surgery is therefore followed by 18 weeks of chemotherapy.

24 May 2017

Researchers use mathematical modeling to find effective chemotherapy treatments for cancer patients

A team of Florida State University researchers is using mathematical modeling to find the best and most effective chemotherapy treatments for cancer patients.

4 May 2017

MDI Biological Laboratory investigator awarded NIH grant for research on peripheral neuropathy

The MDI Biological Laboratory has announced that Sandra Rieger, Ph.D., has been awarded a highly competitive grant from the National Cancer Institute, an institute of the National Institutes of Health, to study the molecular mechanisms underlying chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, a side effect of cancer chemotherapy causing symptoms such as pain, tingling, temperature sensitivity and numbness in the extremities.

29 Apr 2017

Combination of TTFields with standard therapies may improve survival in pancreatic cancer patients

Novocure announced today results from the second cohort of its phase 2 pilot PANOVA trial studying Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) in combination with nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer.

31 Mar 2017

Phase 2 study shows encouraging results for TTFields therapy in treating recurrent ovarian cancer

Novocure announced today results from its phase 2 pilot INNOVATE trial studying Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) in combination with weekly paclitaxel for the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer.

31 Mar 2017

NR could potentially prevent chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in cancer patients

A new study in rats suggests that nicotinamide riboside (NR), a form of vitamin B3, may be useful for treating or preventing nerve pain (neuropathy) caused by chemotherapy drugs.

24 Feb 2017

Study reveals new role for cancer drug in tumor immunology

A drug first designed to prevent cancer cells from multiplying has a second effect: it switches immune cells that turn down the body's attack on tumors back into the kind that amplify it. This is the finding of a study led by researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center and published recently in Cancer Immunology Research.

13 Feb 2017

New immunotherapy active against mucosal melanoma and improves survival for bladder cancer patients

Clinical trials of a new immunotherapy, pembrolizumab, have shown that it prolongs life significantly for patients with bladder cancer and is active against a rare sub-type of melanoma, called mucosal melanoma.

30 Jan 2017

Chemotherapy-induced senescent cells promote side effects and cancer relapse

Standard chemotherapy is a blunt force instrument against cancer - and it's a rare cancer patient who escapes debilitating side effects from systemic treatments that mostly affect dividing cells, both malignant and healthy, throughout the body.

17 Jan 2017

MGH researchers identify protein that may protect tumor-initiating cells in breast cancer

Massachusetts General Hospital investigators have identified a protein that may play an essential role in maintaining a population of tumor-initiating cells (TICs) -- treatment-resistant cells responsible for cancer recurrence and metastasis -- in breast cancer, as well as a compound that appears to reduce the molecule's ability to protect TICs from the effects of chemotherapy.