Yew (Taxus brevifolia) is the source of the taxane family chemo drugs such as
Docetaxol and Paclitaxel.
Medicinal plant name Isolated compounds (structures are shown in Figure 1) Taxus baccata Cabazitaxel Colchium autumnale Colchicine (autumn crocus) Combretum caffrum Combretastatin Taxus species
Docetaxol Glycyrrhiza uralensis Isoliquiritigenin Needles of yew trees Larotaxel Taxus baccata Podophyllum peltatum Podophyllotoxin Podophyllum emodi Taxus brevifolia Paclitaxel Polygonum roots, Peanut Resveratrol seeds, Berries and grapes Broussonetia papyrifera 2S-abyssinone II Verubulin Catharanthus roseus Vinblastine G.
CSC-enriched cells showed higher resistance than MCF-7 monolayer cells to established anticancer control drugs, 5-fluorouracil and
docetaxol (1.41- and 9.00-fold, respectively), as well as to shikonin and artesunate (2.03- and 3.41-fold, respectively) (Fig.
Patents on several blockbuster drugs, including cancer medicines gemcitabine and
docetaxol, will expire over the next five years.
Although his PSA declined from 40.39 ng/mL pre-chemotherapy to 3.6 ng/mL with 3 cycles of
docetaxol, further treatment was discontinued due to fatigue, nausea and dehydration.
Anticancer drugs shown to be substrates for ABCB1 include anthracyclines (e.g., doxorubicin), vinca alkaloids (e.g., vincristine), epipodophylotoxins (e.g., etoposide), and taxanes (e.g., paclitaxel and
docetaxol) (47).