Docetaxel is a clinically well established anti-mitotic chemotherapy medication used for the treatment of different types of cancer, including breast, ovarian, and non-small cell lung cancer. Docetaxel is a complex diterpenoid molecule and a semisynthetic analogue of paclitaxel. Docetaxel reversibly binds to microtubulin with high affinity in a 1:1 stoichiometric ratio, allowing it to prevent cell division and promote to cell death. Compared to paclitaxel, docetaxel is two times more potent as an inhibitor of microtubule depolymerization. Docetaxel binds to microtubules but does not interact with dimeric tubulin.
The use of docetaxel may lead to udesired outcomes such as hepatic impairment, hematologic effects, enterocolitis and neutropenic colitis, hypersensitivity reactions, fluid retention, second primary malignancies, embryo-fetal toxicity, and tumor lysis syndrome. Docetaxel was approved by the FDA in 1996 and is available in solution for injection for intravenous or parenteral administration.
Docetaxel is indicated as a single agent for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer after chemotherapy failure; and with doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide as adjuvant treatment of operable node-positive BC. It is also indicated as a single agent for locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after platinum therapy failure; and with cisplatin for unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic untreated NSCLC. For the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, docetaxel is indicated with prednisone. Docetaxel is also indicated with cisplatin and fluorouracil for untreated, advanced gastric adenocarcinoma, including the gastroesophageal junction, and with cisplatin and fluorouracil for induction treatment of locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN).
Graham Hospital, Canton, Illinois, United States
Illinois CancerCare - Galesburg, Galesburg, Illinois, United States
Mason District Hospital, Havana, Illinois, United States
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, Washington, United States
Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon, France
Centre Jean Perrin, Clermont-Ferrand, France
Institut de Cancérologie de la Loire, Saint Priest en Jarez, France
UCLA Hematology Oncology, Los Angeles, California, United States
The Ohio State University Hospital East, Columbus, Ohio, United States
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, United States
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
Cancer Trials Ireland Investigative Site, Waterford, Ireland
Dept. of Oncology; Rigshospitalet, Blegdamsvej, Copenhagen, Denmark
Stanford University Hospitals and Clinics, Stanford, California, United States
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