Therapy

Chemist Looking to Increase Production of Paclitaxel

Published in Cancer Weekly, July 3rd, 1995

A University of Portland, Oregon, chemist thinks she can squeeze more paclitaxel, a cancer-fighting drug, from the Pacific yew tree.

If the efforts of Angela Hoffman succeed, the supply of the scarce drug would increase while the need to harvest so much yew tree bark would decrease.

Hoffman, an assistant professor of chemistry, has shown that finger-sized yew cuttings will export paclitaxel to liquid in which the cuttings are placed.

"If we transfer paclitaxel into the liquid," she said, "we can extract it much more easily than grinding down bark and needles."

Her research is in a second phase, which will...

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Source: Cancer Weekly (1995-07-03)

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