Introduction to Paclitaxel | From Tree to Taxol | Paclitaxel and Cancer Treatment | Inside Paclitaxel: Physical Characteristics | Paclitaxel: Effective or Too Costly? | Paclitaxel’s Affect on History | History’s Affect on Paclitaxel | References
Paclitaxel is a remarkably controversial, yet effective drug for fighting the mitotic processes in cancer cells. As such, paclitaxel has affected the direction of cancer research due to its relatively high success rate, particularly with ovarian cancer. Moreover, history has shown that paclitaxel’s very means of discovery was fraught with ecological concerns, associated with its success, as well as institutional and political problems. The effectiveness of paclitaxel may represent its crux as well: the success of the molecule has spurred competing chemists into a battle over the rights to the cancer treatment, one that has often involved serious legal and governmental legislation. Taxol is also used in other procedures, such as in vitro fertilization, used to affect the cell microtubules.