Taxane formulations: From plant to clinic

Abstract

Taxanes including paclitaxel and docetaxel are highly active against many types of cancers. The main obstacle with developing delivery systems of taxanes is their poor water solubility. In this chapter, taxanes were reviewed in terms of their pharmacology, solubility and stability using traditional formulations such as those based on using Cremophor EL and novel nanocarrier-based formulations including liposome, nanoparticle and polymeric micelle delivery systems. Commercially available formulations of paclitaxel such as Taxol, Abraxane and Genexol-PM were highlighted.