There is no other naturally occurring defense agent against cancer that has a stronger effect than paclitaxel, commonly known under the brand name of Taxol®. The major drawback for the more widespread use of paclitaxel and its precious precursor, 10-deacetylbaccatin III (10-DAB III), is that they require large-scale extraction from different parts of yew trees (Taxus species), cell cultures, ta...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The evolution of seeds together with the mechanisms related to their dispersal into the environment represented a turning point in the evolution of plants. Seeds are produced by gymnosperms and angiosperms but only the latter have an ovary to be transformed into a fruit. Yet some gymnosperms produce fleshy structures attractive to animals, thus behaving like fruits from a fu...

The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the bronchodilating effect and bronchial hyperreactivity of alcoholic extract of Taxus baccata Linn. (AET) leaves in experimental animals. Bronchodilator activity of AET was studied on the histamine and acetylcholine aerosol induced bronchospasm in guinea pigs and bronchial hyperreactivity was studied on bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in...

The objective of this paper is to review the data supporting the use of docetaxel in the treatment of breast cancer, focusing on pharmacokinetics, efficacy in adjuvant and metastatic trials alone and in combination with chemotherapeutic and targeted agents, and the toxicity of docetaxel in comparison to paclitaxel. Docetaxel is a semisynthetic product derived from the European yew tree Taxus ba...