Taxol, << TAK sawl, >> is a drug used to treat advanced cancers of the breast and ovaries. It is the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company’s trade name for its anticancer drug paclitaxel.
Taxol was originally obtained from the bark of the Pacific yew, a slow-growing tree found in the Pacific Northwest. However, harvesting the bark destroyed the trees, and great numbers were needed to produce even small amounts of Taxol. Environmentalists feared that increasing use of the drug would endanger the survival of the species. Today, Taxol is prepared from clippings of new growth from another species, the English yew. Scientists can also collect small amounts of Taxol from yew cells grown in the laboratory.
Taxol belongs to a class of drugs known as taxoids, which have shown promise in treating various types of cancer. Scientists believe taxoids will work well when used in combination with other drugs. Another taxoid that is used for treating advanced breast cancer is docetaxel, known by the trade name Taxotere. Researchers continue to search for other new taxoids and to test their effectiveness.
