and large amounts of taxol are needed for treatment. Scientists are studying the feasibility of cultivating the trees to harvest the drug from the bark, as well as the possibility of extracting the drug from the branches and needles. Taxol, also called paclitaxel, is an antineoplastic and is usually administered by injection and used to treat advanced breast cancer. Chemotherapy, and the administration of cancer-fighting drugs, such as taxol, has proven effective in destroying breast cancer cells that have spread to other organs. This drug works on the microtubules of the cell preventing with interphase and mitotic cell functions, which is one of the steps in cell division and multiplication. Side effects include hypersensitivity reactions, bone marrow suppression, blood pressure excursions and muscle pain, damage to the nerves of the hands and feet, nausea, vomiting, and hair loss. Preliminary results of clinical trials have showed that taxol, when given with standard chemotherapy, improved patient survival rates by 26%, and reduced the risk of reoccurrence by 22%. Another alternative is docetaxel, a substance that is similar to pacitaxel. Docetaxel comes from the needles of the yew tree. This drug is FDA approved to treat advanced breast cancer that has not responded to other anticancer drugs. The side effects of docetaxel are similar to those related to paclitaxel (Paclitaxel (Taxol) and Other Related Anticancer Drugs). Other treatments exploit some of the chemicals the body naturally produces. For example, some breast cancer cells thrive on the hormone estrogen, which is produced in the ovaries. Endocrine therapy slows the growth of such cells by preventing them from using estrogen. One of the drugs employed in endocrine therapy is tamoxifen. Preliminary research has shown that in addition to preventing breast cancer from recurring, tamoxifen may also prevent new cancers from forming in the opposite breast. Chemotherapy i...
