I love trees. They are mighty and mysterious. It's no wonder that we humans have found out that they contain a cancer-killing agent in their bark extract. The pacific yew tree, found in the Pacific Northwest coastal region of the United States, was found to have bark extract that tested positive for cytotoxicity (substance poisonous to cells). This discovery in the early sixties has led us to what we know today as Taxol and Taxotere.
Taxol comes from the pacific yew tree (Taxus brevifolia) and Taxotere comes from the European pacific yew tree (Taxus baccata). These drugs treat a variety of different cancers including breast, ovarian and lung cancers.
The pacific yew tree was considered worthless as lumber. Botanist Arthur S. Barclay, PHD, sent a specimen of bark to chemist Monroe Elliot Wall, PHD. The testing of the bark extract led to a drug that interferes with the development of cell duplication. This was a different way to attack a cancer cell. Some other chemotherapy treatments work to interfere with a cancer cell's DNA.
The Taxenes gave us a new angle to combat the fast growing cancer cells. Of course, most chemotherapy agents do that at a price. These drugs do have side effects since they can't tell the difference between fast growing cancer cells and other fast growing cells in our body.
What other untapped resources are out there in our forest and in nature that could help save lives? We already know of organisms in China, Japan, New Zealand, Africa, Madagascar and the Caribbean Sea that have yielded drugs to treat cancer.
This isn't exactly natural therapy but it feels much more natural when the treatment derives from tree bark.
1. Taxol inhibits the replication (mitosis) of cells. Rapid mitosis is the basis for tumors. Since the discovery of it in 1960, researchers have produced a multitude of drugs that work on the same principle. They target microtubules (a structure used in the division of cells) and stabilizes them to the extent that mitosis is disrupted. Microtubules transport proteins around the cell and are essential for mitosis. When you inhibit the nature of microtubules, this blocks mitosis and the cell essentially commits suicide. This keeps the cancer from growing.
According to the Office of Research, Florida State University, the picture for Taxol wasn't all rosy. As a cancer-fighter, Taxol had some serious drawbacks. For hundreds of cancer patients, the drug simply bounced off their tumors, doing little if any good. It was possible for patients to be resistant to it and develop a tolerance, limiting the drug's ability to fight future occurrences of cancer.
Side-effects were a real headache. Taxol targets the fastest-growing cells, but it isn’t specific to cancer cells. It also kills hair cells and cells in the stomach lining, leading to the hair loss and nausea that are associated with chemotherapy.
The drug wasn't water soluble (it had the solubility of a brick), necessitating a carrier to deliver it to cells. The carrier is toxic as well. Taxol's castor-oil carrier was suspected as the culprit behind much of the misery, which included nausea, vomiting, joint pain, appetite loss, brittle hair and tingling sensations in hands and feet. People soon began to realize that the much ballyhooed drug was no panacea.
Then in 2004, a Dr. Katharina Pachmann, et al study, using the CellSearch technique, found that Taxol produced the greatest degree of tumor shrinkage but also the greatest release of circulating tumor cells. With the cells remaining in the circulation, this observation corresponds with results found in patients, that is, tumor response does not mean increased survival (May 2005 issue of Oncology News International Vol. 14, No.5)
Natural treatment? My wife didn't think so.
Posted at 1:16PM on Aug 9th 2006 by Gregory D. Pawelski