Taxol: an important new drug in the management of epithelial ovarian cancer.

Taxol, an antineoplastic agent isolated from the Pacific yew, has been demonstrated in three phase 2 clinical trials to have major activity (30 percent overall response rate) in patients with ovarian cancer refractory to cisplatin. The major toxicities associated with the agent are neutropenia (dose-limiting), hypersensitivity reactions, peripheral sensory neuropathy, and cardiac arrhythmias. A recently reported phase 1 trial of the combination of cisplatin and taxol has defined acceptable doses for the two-drug combination to be tested against cisplatin and cyclophosphamide as frontline therapy of advanced ovarian cancer. Taxol has also been examined for intraperitoneal administration in patients with ovarian cancer, with a major pharmacokinetic advantage for peritoneal cavity exposure being demonstrated. Unfortunately, any future development of taxol as an antineoplastic agent in the management of ovarian cancer will be dependent on the finding of an alternative source of the drug, as the current method of obtaining taxol from the bark of the Pacific yew provides insufficient quantities for large-scale clinical use.