Taxus: The Genus Taxus

386pp  ISBN 0415298377      £68.00

Taxol, originally derived from the North American Yew tree in 1971, is well-known worldwide as a powerful anticancer agent. Mechanistically, it has a unique microtubule stabilizing activity, and was clinically developed as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of breast and ovarian cancers at the National Cancer Institute, Washington D.C., USA.

In this volume, the authors provide an authoritative account of the taxoids. it covers their production and biosynthesis - from commercial cultivation to plant tissue culture methods - describes taxoid chemistry, the analytical methods for identifying their structure and the pharmacological and pre-clinical aspects important in investigating their therapeutic actions.

Contents

• Introduction
• Biosynthesis of Taxoids
• Taxoids Occurring in the genus Taxus
• Physical Methods for Identifying the Structures of Taxoids
• Plant Tissue Culture of Taxoids
• The Commercial Cultivation of Taxus Species and Production of Taxoids
• Analytical Aspects of Taxoids
• Chemistry of Taxol and Related Taxoids
• Total Synthesis of Taxoids
• Structure-Activity Relationships of Taxoids
• Pre-clinical and Clinical Investigation of the Taxanes
• Paclitaxel Content of Yews in Ireland