Determination of a hydrophilic paclitaxel derivative, 7-xylosyl-10-deacetylpaclitaxel in rat plasma by LC-MS/MS

Quantification of taxanes in biological matrices: a review of bioanalytical assays and recommendations for development of new assays

Since the isolation of paclitaxel and its approval for the treatment of breast cancer, various taxanes and taxane formulations have been developed. To date, almost 100 bioanalytical assays have been published with the method development and optimization often extensively discussed by the authors. This Review presents an overview of assays published between January 1970 and September 2013 that described method development and validation of assays used to quantify taxanes in biological matrices such as plasma, urine, feces and tissue samples. For liquid chromatography assays, sample pretreatment, chromatographic separation and assay performance are compared. Since this Review discusses the limitations of previously developed liquid chromatography assays and gives recommendations for future assay development, it can be used as a reference for future development of liquid chromatography assays for the quantification of taxanes in various biological matrices to support preclinical and clinical studies.

Antitumor Activities of Extracts and Compounds from Water Decoctions of Taxus cuspidata

Water decoctions from the leaves of Taxus cuspidata are used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat cancer, suggesting that water soluble constituents from these leaves may possess anticancer properties. Interestingly, hydrophilic paclitaxel derivatives, as opposed to paclitaxel itself, can be detected by high pressure liquid chromatography in water decoctions from these leaves. The remainder extracts, which are free of paclitaxel and hydrophilic paclitaxel derivatives, from the T. cuspidata leaves were investigated for antitumor activity in vivo and in vitro for the first time in this study. EE80B, 7-xylosyl-10-deacetylpaclitaxel and 7-xylosyl-10-deacetylpaclitaxel C displayed the most antitumor activity in vivo. However, in vitro studies with tumor cell lines showed that EE80B had a significantly smaller antitumor effect than paclitaxel. We hypothesize that water decoctions from T. cuspidata leaves exhibit antitumor effects in vivo, which may be aided by the activation of specific host mechanisms (e.g. stimulation of antitumor immunity) which are not present in vitro.