Science / Medicine : Drug Halts, Slows Some Tumors

Taxol, a drug made from the bark of the Pacific yew tree, was found to halt or slow progression of tumors in more than half of 25 breast cancer patients enrolled in clinical trials at a Houston hospital.

The study, led by Dr. Frankie Ann Holmes of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, found that three of 25 patients experienced complete remission of their cancer after treatment with taxol.

Eleven other patients, the study said, had partial remission, while eight showed a minor effect on their disease from the drug. For one patient, there was no change in the tumors, and for two others the cancers continued to grow.

Patients in the study had experienced a spread of cancer, such as to the bone or liver, after primary treatment for breast cancer. Some had received earlier chemotherapy.

A report on the research, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, said that since the initial period of therapy, one patient who had a complete remission has relapsed. For the other two patients, complete remission continues.