Taxotere® Treatment - A Chemotherapy Drug
What Is Taxotere®?
Taxotere® (tax-o-teer) is a chemotherapy
drug used to treat certain types of breast, lung, prostate, and gastric (stomach) cancers. It is being studied for use as a chemotherapy drug for other types of cancers, too. In fact, researchers have found that Taxotere® may be a beneficial cancer treatment for head and neck cancer.
Taxotere® has been a part of cancer treatment plans since 1996. Healthcare professionals and resources also may refer to Taxotere® by its generic name, docetaxel
. Taxotere®, or docetaxel, belongs to a class of chemotherapy drugs called taxanes
. The chemical used to make Taxotere® comes from the needles of the European yew tree.
European yew tree needles. Click on image to enlarge.
How Does Taxotere® Work?
All chemotherapy drugs work by attacking cancer cells, but Taxotere® attacks cancer cells differently than other chemotherapy drugs. Instead of attacking a cancer cell's DNA like most chemotherapy drugs, Taxotere® takes a more direct approach and attacks the cancer cell's supporting structure (or "skeleton"). This makes the cell very stiff, and it has trouble multiplying.
Learn more about Taxotere® by visiting the following pages in this section:
