Paclitaxel

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A chemotherapy medication used primarily to treat various cancers by inhibiting cell division and slowing tumor growth; a taxane drug derived from the Pacific yew tree that disrupts microtubule function; a cancer treatment agent administered intravenously to interfere with cancer cell replication and promote cell death
2. An anti-cancer drug utilized in chemotherapy regimens to prevent cancer cell proliferation through microtubule stabilization, originating from natural sources; a substance that halts tumor progression by interrupting mitosis; a pharmaceutical compound delivered to cancer patients to inhibit tumor growth and induce apoptosis
3. A chemotherapy compound that blocks cell division by stabilizing the structural components involved in mitosis, derived from natural plant extracts; a treatment employed against multiple types of malignancies to reduce tumor size; an intravenous medication that impairs cancer cell reproduction and fosters programmed cell death

Etymology: Paclitaxel is a name built from its own source plant. It combines "Pac", short for Pacific yew, the tree whose bark yielded the compound, with "taxol", the earlier name for the same drug, and the "-el" ending that chemists attach to drug names. The middle part comes from Latin "brevifolia", meaning "short-leaved", a reference to the species' botanical name, Taxus brevifolia. The drug's name thus preserves a record of its discovery. Taxol was the trade name first given to the compound, and when the original name was found to be in use by others and could not be kept, the name was altered slightly to paclitaxel. The result is a word that points back to a specific tree and a specific molecule.

Synonyms: Taxol