How bark from the Pacific yew tree improved the treatment of breast cancer

摘要

IN THE mid-1990s, the taxanes — paclitaxel (Taxol) and docetaxel (Taxotere) — made newspaper headlines because they were derived from yew trees, rather than for their anticancer activity and novel mode of action. But nearly 20 years later, oncologists are still learning how to use the taxanes to best advantage for breast and ovarian cancer patients. Chris Twelves, professor of clinical pharmacology and oncology and head of Clinical Cancer Research Groups at Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine and St James's Institute of Oncology, recalls the limited treatment options in the early 90s for women with advanced breast cancer once their disease proved resistant to anthracycline-based chemotherapy.