The Food and Drug Administration approved Tuesday the promising anti-cancer drug Taxol to treat some women with ovarian cancer.
Clinical trials of Taxol indicated the drug may be dramatically effective against ovarian cancer and may also be useful for treating breast cancer. A 1988 study showed tumor shrinkage in more than 30 percent of ovarian cancer patients treated with the drug.An FDA spokeswoman said the drug now will be available to women with ovarian cancer that has not responded to conventional treatments.
The promise of treating cancer with Taxol has pitted cancer patients against environmentalists - who feared the disappearance of the rare Pacific yew tree. Taxol is derived from the bark of the tree. But better management of yew trees and steps toward developing alternative sources of the drug have increased its supply.