Axitinib is an agent that targets angiogenesis -- blood supply to a tumor. It disrupts blood vessels that grow and provide nutrients to cancer cells. Without the nutrients and oxygen supplied by blood vessels, cancer cells cannot grow or replicate.

Researchers conducted a trial to evaluate axitinib in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Patients were either given Taxotere or Taxotere plus axitinib. Anticancer responses were achieved in 40 percent of patients treated with the addition of axitinib to Taxotere, compared with only 23 percent of patients treated with Taxotere alone.

The researchers concluded -- that the addition of axitinib to Taxotere improves anticancer responses and delays cancer progression compared to Taxotere alone in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer.

Chemotherapy given before surgery to remove cancer is called neoadjuvant treatment. An oncologist might recommend this based of the size of the tumor -- it being very large. The idea is to shrink the tumor and then have surgery to remove the cancer.

Having chemotherapy administered while the tumor is still there can show what drugs are working and what drugs have no effect on the tumor. Chemotherapy when started immediately, not after surgery with healing time needed, gives the patient systematic treatment right away. This could be beneficial and is why physicians might recommend this form of treatment. The truth is they don't know if it is better or not.

Of course, every case of breast cancer is different. We all need to make tough decisions regarding our treatment plan. The facts are that currently there is no evidence that survival is improved with neoadjuvant verses adjuvant (after surgery) chemotherapy in women with locally advanced breast cancer.

The clinical trials that are done help physicians understand what treatments are more effective. Results from a Phase II clinical trial was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. It stated that neoadjuvant treatment with Taxotere, Navelbine, and Herceptin resulted in a complete disappearance of detectable cancer in 39 percent of women with locally advanced HER2 positive breast cancer.

The study showed that after two years followup, on the thirty one women with locally advanced breast cancer involved in the study, the overall survival was 97 percent and cancer free survival was 84 percent.

So, the message here is that, even though the study group was small, the results showed a good response to this treatment plan.

Taxotere improves survival in advanced prostate cancer was a post I had recently put on The Cancer Blog. It did receive some comments that I would like to address.

First, we all should know that those writing on this blog are not medical professionals. When I do report on something it is because I think that a patient will have some more knowledge about their cancer and could ask their doctor about a new treatment or treatment combination.

I do realize that most of the studies only show a small decrease in disease progression or small increase in survival time. That is what is disheartening. I'm waiting for a clinical trial to show years of survival instead of months. I can also dream about writing of a cure being found.

I received Taxotere after my breast cancer diagnosis. A friend with metastatic breast cancer just stopped Taxotere after four years and her bone mets have not returned. I think everyone is different and will respond to drugs differently, or should I say all cancers are different. Even my breast cancer is different than all other breast cancers.

We do need more individualized treatments and I think the scientists are on their way to getting to a point where we will know what drugs to give what patients. For now though, this is all we have. When I researched what drugs that I would probably be given for adjuvant therapy, I read many studies that Taxotere gave a significant decrease in recurrence of breast cancer. I decided to take it because I thought the benefits outweighed the risks -- for me.

Taxotere has many side effects. Some minor and some major. It could depend on the health of the patient whether or not they would have major side effects.

I heard a physician say over the weekend that if we read the side effects listed on aspirin we probably wouldn't take it.

Here are some sites that talk about Taxotere and side effects:

Sanofi-aventis

Cancer Backup

Thanks for all the great comments. Keep them coming!

Sanofi-Aventis, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, issued a press release that stated Taxotere (docetaxel) improves survival in patients with metastatic prostate cancer.

A Phase III clinical trial named TAX 327 compared Taxotere plus prednisone to Novantrone (mitoxantrone) plus prednisone. The study included a little over a thousand men who had recurrences or spread of disease after hormonal therapy.

The results of the study showed that survival was improved by 21 percent among patients treated with the Taxotere based therapy. The men also were without pain for a longer periods of time than those treated with Novantrone based therapy.

Researchers conclude that these long term results continue to provide evidence that Taxotere based therapy improves survival for advanced prostate cancer patients.

My new breast cancer friend recently sat through her second infusion of Adriamycin and Cytoxan -- the long-time traditional chemotherapy combination for breast cancer -- and all the while, listened to another breast cancer survivor share her thoughts on these two drugs.

This woman told my friend she opted to stray from these chemotherapy agents because of their toxic side effects, because of their combined potential for causing other cancers, like leukemia. She instead took another drug route and was happy for her decision. My friend, however, was scared.

My friend returned home from her treatment and found herself reading a Cancer Blog post reporting that Adriamycin and Cytoxan may no longer be the gold standard treatment for breast cancer, that Taxotere and Cytoxan may become the preferred, safer option.

Fear and panic set in, and my friend e-mailed me, in search of perspective from a recipient of the drugs she was starting to believe are both ineffective and cancer-causing.

I am not a doctor. I am not an expert. I am not qualified in any way to represent the facts about medical research. But I am surviving breast cancer. And I did spend eight difficult weeks under the influence of Adriamycin and Cytoxan, given every two weeks in a dose-dense fashion. So I have an opinion about these drugs -- and about most things breast cancer related.

I shared my opinion with my friend, who has since decided to proceed with her prescribed treatment plan. I told her that in rare cases, chemotherapy can cause a second cancer, like leukemia. But this is not common, and the unlikely risk does not outweigh the benefit of receiving chemotherapy to address the cancer at hand.

I also shared with my friend that we can only benefit from therapies that are available and effective at the time of our treatment. Studies prove that Adriamycin and Cytoxan work -- that's why so many women are treated with this accepted method. Drugs in the research pipeline may one day definitively replace what is available today. But we must be OK with what we receive -- because we have no control over what lies ahead. We must live in the here and now -- with the knowledge that should our cancers return, bigger and better options may await us.

Consider Herceptin. Once not even an option for women with aggressive HER2 positive breast cancer, this targeted drug may be the magic bullet in an attack against this disease. I received Herceptin. My friend will receive Herceptin. Timing was on our side for this medical breakthrough.

Timing may not have been on our side should a new gold-standard drug treatment emerge and replace Adriamycin and Cytoxan. But we can still trust these two drugs will do their jobs, will prevent a recurrence of a disease that is so much more treatable today than it was years ago. Lucky for us.

The results of a Phase III clinical trial, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, concluded that Taxotere (docetaxel) plus Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide) resulted in better cancer free survival than the treatment combination of Adriamycin (doxorubicin) and Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide).

Adriamycin and Cytoxan, referred to as the AC chemotherapy regime, has been the gold standard for adjuvant therapy for those patients diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. This study was conducted on more than 1000 women who had Stage I to Stage III disease. Half of the women were given the AC regime and the other half given the Taxotere/Cytoxan (TC) regime.

The results of the study showed that cancer free survival was 86 percent for those treated with TC an 80 percent among women treated with AC. Overall survival was 90 percent among women treated with TC and 87 percent among women treated with AC. Nausea and vomiting were more common among women treated with AC. Muscle and joint pain, edema, and low white blood cell counts accompanied by fever were more common among patients treated with TC.

Last week The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Taxotere (docetaxel) for the use in combination with cisplatin and fluorouracil prior to radiation therapy for the treatment of patients with inoperable, locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

A trial was conducted that included 358 patients with previously untreated, inoperable, locally advanced head and neck cancer. The patients were divided into two groups. One group received Taxotere in combination with cisplatin and fluorouracil and the other group received only cisplatin and fluorouracil. Chemotherapy was administered before radiation treatments. The patients that received the Taxotere experienced a longer survival time and a longer time to disease progression.

Steven Galson, M.D., director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research said "Today's approval will provide prescribers with a new treatment option that has been shown to help slow the spread of the disease and prolong patient's survival."

Since 1988, Wendy Chioji has been a reporter and anchorwoman for WESH 2 News in Orlando, Florida. She has covered news ranging from the pope's visit to Cuba in 1998 to the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002. She continuously covered last year's hurricanes, and she has an Emmy award under her belt for a special news report on heroin use.

Wendy is a top notch athlete. She has run five marathons and competed in several triathlons and half-ironman races. She has ridden in parts of several stages of the Tour de France, and traveled across the country with Lance Armstrong in 2003 -- covering 550 miles -- with the Tour of Hope event to raise awareness for cancer research. Wendy has also made a tour with stage II breast cancer. Since 2001, she has been surviving this disease.

Kim Taylor is a 45-year-old single mother who lives in Suwannee County, Florida and is proud to have successfully raised one daughter -- a graduate of the University of Florida. Kim enjoys outdoor activities like camping as well as sewing, crafting, and carpentry projects. She is most at peace spending time with her family, working as a youth volunteer -- and raising awareness for breast cancer. It's a interest she acquired just two years ago, compliments of a personal encounter with the disease that has taught her to let the little things go, to appreciate every sunrise, to make every moment matter.

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.

When I received my treatments for breast cancer I was first given Adriamycin and Cytoxan. Following that I received Taxotere for 4 cycles every three weeks. That was in 2002. Things have changed somewhat now that Taxotere is sometimes given in dose dense quantities (every week for 12 weeks in some cases). I'm not sure if this regimen causes fewer side effects from the Taxotere. I have heard that it does.

I had a side effect called oral thrush resulting from Taxotere. When our immune systems are compromised we can develop oral thrush. I know others do suffer with thrush and are sometimes given a mouthwash to ease the discomfort. My oncologist prescribed Diflucan for 7 days straight after I would receive Taxotere treatments. This worked well to prevent and help with the mouth thrush. I would suggest asking your doctor about Diflucan if the mouthwash or other remedies do not work.

Another tip for Taxotere side effects is to get tissues with lotion in them. I had a terrible time with eye tearing. It is like when you get a sore nose from a cold. The tissues just made my eyes very red from rubbing them. The tissues with lotion in them helped tremendously with the irritation.

My last tip, although odd, would be not to drive when wearing fake eyelashes after a Taxotere treatment!! My eyes started to tear and the lash glue leaked into my eyes. I didn't crash or anything but I had to pull over because the glue formed a white film and I couldn't see! I'm glad a cop didn't pull over to see what was going on. I had black mascara running down my face and two fake eyelashes stuck where they weren't supposed to be. I do remember sitting in the car laughing about how ridiculous I looked.

Cancer treatment side effects (example: yeast infection in mouth!), CAN be ridiculous. Sharing tips among survivors however is smart.

The British Journal of Cancer published an article about a trial that showed more than half of women with untreated advanced breast cancer responded to the combination of Taxotere (docetaxel) and Iressa (gefitinib).

The study showed that complete and partial cancer regression occurred in 54 percent of patients. The combination seemed to work best on tumors that were estrogen-receptor positive, showing a response rate of 70 percent. Estrogen-negative cancers had a much lower, 21 percent response rate.

Women with advanced or metastatic breast cancer usually will go through different regimes and different combinations of chemotherapies. Usually a specific drug will stop working at a certain point. The important thing is to keep having more combinations/drugs to try so that the options do not run out.

The use of Taxotere (docetaxel) based regimens for women with late stage breast cancer has been available since 2001. Studies today find that the use of Taxotere (docetaxel) improve survival rate and the quality of life and helps reverse progress of metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer.

Today the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), UK, released a guidance that recommends that all eligible patients with prostate cancer have access to the cancer drug. Taxotere® (docetaxel) has an acceptable increase of side effects. The most commonly reported adverse reaction associated with Taxotere® (docetaxel) is low white cell count, which may lead to infection, but is reversible and not cumulative. Other common side effects include flushing, skin rash, chest tightness, back pain, anemia, nausea, sore mouth and taste change, diarrhea, hair loss, hypersensitivity and tiredness.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men, excluding skin cancer. American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates for 2005 include 232,090 new cases of prostate cancer in the US. Year 2005 estimates include 30,350 deaths occurring from prostate cancer in the US alone, making it the second leading cause of cancer death in men.

Sanofi-Aventis SA has announced that Taxotere, a cancer drug, has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for use as a new drug application for the treatment of advanced stomach cancer. Currently, Taxotere is used for treating breast, lung and prostate cancer. This is the first time in ten years that a drug for stomach cancer has proven effective in prolonging the life of a patient with gastric cancer.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, the symptoms of stomach, or gastric cancer, are: loss of appetite, difficulty swallowing, particularly difficulty that increases over time, vague abdominal fullness, nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, excessive belching, breath odor, excessive gas, unintentional weight loss and premature abdominal fullness after meals. Typically, treatment for stomach cancer is surgical removal of the stomach. For many patients, chemotherapy and radiation therapy given after surgery improves the chance for a cure.