The Taxol Treasure: Successes and Side Effects in Cancer Treatment

Taxol has been one of the most successful chemotherapies ever developed. It is used in many cancers and very commonly in breast cancer treatment. While it is incredibly effective, it also has its side effects. Watch this short video to learn more. This is not intended as medical advice. Please talk to your doctor before beginning any new health practice.

 Transcript:

Hello everyone.  I’m Dr. Lisa Schwartz and this is Cancer Straight Talk where you get cancer information from a cancer doctor.  Today we are going to talk about a very common and effective chemotherapy called Taxol. 

The original investigation which led to the development of Taxol dates back to the 1960’s.  At that point in our history of medicine antibiotic use had become common leading to a sharp decline in the number of deaths from infections.  Which meant people were living longer and now dying of things like heart disease and cancer. So a push was on to find effective treatments for heart disease and cancer.  Up until that point the main treatment for cancer was just surgery.

 After the second world war, some researchers that had been working on chemical warfare discovered that one of the compounds they were using called nitrogen mustard was useful in treating cancer.  This led to a search for other chemicals that could be used to treat cancer and other diseases.  Since plants had been used for centuries to treat various ailments, they were a major source of investigation.  There was a tree found in Washington state called the Pacific Yew tree.  Very little was known about it other than most of the tree was poisonous and this is what precisely made it a prime candidate for research as a treatment for cancer. 

To make a very long story short, through years of research, investigators were able to isolate the compound responsible for its anticancer activity from the bark but it took a lot of the natural bark to make the drug and the compound was very complicated.  The population of Pacific Yew trees would have been destroyed to make enough Taxol for it to be useful.  Fortunately, a synthetic version was developed and in 1992 Taxol was approved for the treatment of ovarian cancer.  It took 30 years of research to get it to that point but Taxol has gone on to be one of the most successful chemotherapies that we have.   

Taxol is used in many different types of cancer.  The list includes breast, ovarian, lung, head and neck, bladder, prostate, esophageal, and others.

If you are receiving Taxol, you will certainly want to know about the most common side effects.

·       The first is low bloods counts which you are going to get with most chemotherapy.  Your blood counts will be the lowest at about 2 weeks after your treatment and your doctor may give you a medicine to help your body produce more white blood cells.  Infection is the biggest risk with low white blood cell counts so notifying your doctor of any fevers is very important. 

·       Hair loss is also common with Taxol and is usually fairly complete.  While some chemotherapies will not cause much hair loss if any, Taxol will cause hair loss.  Patients may even lose their eyebrows and eyelashes.  The hair loss usually occurs 14-21 days after receiving Taxol and can be an emotional event for patients.  I would encourage you to see a hair stylist or barber before the two week mark and either have your hair cut short or go ahead and have it shaved.

·       Nausea is milder than with many chemotherapies. 

·       Peripheral neuropathy is a numbness, tingling, or pain in the fingers and toes.  It occurs because Taxol damages the nerve endings.  Your medical oncologist needs to know if you get this because he or she may need to decrease the dose of Taxol you are receiving.  Usually the neuropathy goes away over time but you may need some medicines to help deal with the discomfort.

·       You can also get joint or muscle aches 2-3 days after Taxol and these are temporary.

·       Diarrhea is common.

·       Mouth sores can occur as well.  Using a mouth rinse of 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp of salt in 8 ounces of warm water may help with these.

·       A hypersensitivity reaction is also pretty common.  It will occur within 10 minutes of infusion and consists of a flushes feeling, fever, chills, shortness of breath or hives. Patients receive a premedication before Taxol which helps to prevent this reaction.

Taxol can also be given over different schedules. It is usually given either weekly or every 3 weeks.  The weekly dose is a little lower and is usually better tolerated. The schedule that you receive will depend on the cancer that is being treated and the other treatment that you are receiving.

That’s it for Taxol.  I hope that you have found this helpful.  Please let me know if you have any questions or comments by leaving them below.  Click the “like” button and share this with anyone you feel may get some benefit from it.  Until next time, take care and be well.