Paclitaxel is a chemotherapeutic agent marketed under the brand name Taxol among others. Used as a treatment for various cancers, paclitaxel is a mitotic inhibitor that was first isolated in 1971.

Paclitaxel is a chemotherapeutic agent marketed under the brand name Taxol among others. Used as a treatment for various cancers, paclitaxel is a mitotic inhibitor that was first isolated in 1971 from the bark of the Pacific yew tree which contains endophytic fungi that synthesize paclitaxel. It is available as an intravenous solution for injection and the newer formulation contains albumin-bound paclitaxel marketed under the brand name Abraxane.

A：Paclitaxel is a widely used drug developed since the mid-1980s, with significant antitumor activity against ovarian, head and neck, bladder, breast and lung cancers.

A：Mechanisms of resistance to paclitaxel have also been extensively studied, such as overexpression of ABC transporters, altered expression of signalling apoptotic genes to resist cell death, and microtubule-related changes to reduce the effe