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taxanes

Thursday 5 January 2006

Definition : Taxanes are a class of diterpenes.

Taxanes were originally identified from plants of the genus Taxus (yews), and feature a taxadiene core.

Molecules as paclitaxel (Taxol) and docetaxel (Taxotere) are widely used as chemotherapy agents. cabazitaxel was FDA approved to treat hormone-refractory prostate cancer.

Taxanes are important drugs in the treatment of ovarian and other cancers, but their efficacy is limited by intrinsic and acquired drug resistance.

Resistance

Expression of the multidrug transporter P-glycoprotein, encoded by the MDR1 ( ABCB1 ) gene, is one of the causes of clinical drug resistance to taxanes.

Associations

 ring mitosis

Open References

 Wang YC, Juric D, Francisco B, Yu RX, Duran GE, Chen GK, Chen X, Sikic BI. Regional activation of chromosomal arm 7q with and without gene amplification in taxane-selected human ovarian cancer cell lines. Genes Chromosomes Cancer. 2006 Apr;45(4):365-74. PMID: 16382445