Scientists have long been convinced that a cancer cure exists somewhere in nature or in the chemical compounds of laboratories. Before 1960, most scientists were searching beakers of chemical compounds for a promising cancer cure.

In 1960, emphasis changed for a very few scientists who were drafted by the National Cancer Institute to look for promising compounds in animals, insects, and plants. A new industry has surfaced using plant material discovered to have cancer-fighting properties.

Unfortunately, success in one area often means problems in another. Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia) tree bark was found to have cancer inhibiting properties. The unusual molecule found and extracted from these trees became known as the cancer-fighting drug Taxol®.

Soon, the Pacific Yew was in trouble. It was over-harvested in the wild. Although technically it is a tree that can be farm-raised, it only puts on an average 8 inches of growth a year. According to officials, "Technicians did well to coax a half a gram of Taxol from the bark of a 40-foot specimen, a tree that easily could be 200 years old. The National Cancer Institute would have to come up with roughly 240 pounds of the drug" to treat all of the ovarian cancer patients wanting the drug. "This would require the death of 360,000 trees."

This real life drama reminds me of the 1992 Sean Connery movie, "Medicine Man".

After 31 years of trying, Taxol® has been synthetically reproduced in the laboratory. To read about the history of this unique drug and its long trail to patients, go to http://www.rinr.fsu.edu/fall2002/taxol.html