Clinical Use
Paclitaxel is approved in the UK for ovarian, breast and lung cancers and Kaposi's sarcoma. It is recommended in NICE guidance of June 2001 that it should be used for nonsmall cell lung cancer in patients unsuitable for curative treatment, and in first-line and second-line treatment of ovarian cancer. In September 2001, NICE recommended paclitaxel should be available for the treatment of advanced breast cancer after the failure of anthracyclic chemotherapy, but that its first-line use should be limited to clinical trials. In September 2006, NICE recommended paclitaxel should not be used in the adjuvant treatment of early node-positive breast cancer.
The cost to the NHS per patient in early breast cancer, assuming four cycles of treatment, is about £4000 (approx. $6000).
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