Latest news with #Taxol
Boston Globe
07-07-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
Robert Holton dies at 81; his potent chemo drug saved lives
He called the technique, which produced the medication in high amounts, the metal alkoxide process. He licensed his methodology to Bristol Myers Squibb, which became the first pharmaceutical company to manufacture Taxol. Generic versions are sold under the name paclitaxel. Advertisement 'There was a worldwide race underway to synthesize it,' Dr. Jeff Boyd, chief scientific officer for the Northwell Health Cancer Institute in Manhasset, N.Y., said in an interview. 'Many groups were working on it because what was needed was a cheap and readily obtainable source of the drug. He was the first to achieve total organic synthesis.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Dr. Holton completed the artificially made compound Dec. 9, 1993, beating dozens of competitors. Although scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., announced that they had also succeeded in synthesizing the drug, Dr. Holton's team was the first to publish details of its methods in a scientific journal. Before Dr. Holton's achievement, not only did three yews per patient have to die — because the bark where the anticancer alkaloid was first isolated had to be fully stripped — but the forests where they grew also stood to lose the bulk of these conifers. Advertisement Yew trees as a source for cancer treatment first came to scientific attention in the early 1960s. The US government began an extensive search for powerful anticancer compounds lurking in the leaves, twigs, roots, and bark of plants nationwide. It wasn't until 1970, after nearly a decade of research, that two scientists at the Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina isolated the potent alkaloid in the bark of a Washington state yew tree. Dr. Holton started his drug synthesis research in 1989. To avoid depleting the species of yew that is native to the western United States, especially the Pacific Northwest, Dr. Holton turned to the more abundant European variety as another source of the medication. Instead of utilizing the bark, he was able to isolate the alkaloid from twigs and needles, foregoing the need to kill the tree. Once he was able to fabricate the medication in a lab, it was no longer necessary to collect any part of the tree for drug production. 'I have always been drawn to difficult problems, and synthesizing Taxol was a big one,' Dr. Holton said in 2018 during remarks at the annual meeting of the National Academy of Inventors in Washington, D.C. He was elected an academy fellow that year. 'Seeing the drug's success in treating so many patients has been an incredibly gratifying experience.' The National Cancer Institute estimates that more than 1 million patients have been treated with Taxol. It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1992 for ovarian cancer and, in 1994, for advanced breast cancer. The chemo agent is also used for the treatment of lung cancer and Kaposi's sarcoma, among other malignancies, Boyd said. Advertisement 'Dr. Holton's extraordinary contributions to science saved countless lives,' Richard McCullough, the president of Florida State University who is a chemist, said in a statement. 'Most scientists dream of having that kind of impact.' In 1994, The New York Times called Dr. Holton's synthesis of Taxol 'arguably the most important drug cobbled together by human hands.' The article also noted 'the cutthroat competition' to synthesize what everyone believed was destined to become a multibillion-dollar medication. In 1999, Bristol Myers Squibb earned $1.5 billion from sales of the drug. 'It's one of the most commonly used cancer drugs,' said Boyd, who is also the director of the Institute of Cancer Research at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in Manhasset. Through licensing deals, Florida State University has earned more than $350 million in royalties associated with Dr. Holton's methodology, according to the university. Of that total, about $140 million went to Dr. Holton. The university announced in 2018 that royalties stemming from the drug synthesis technology are 'the most royalty income from any university-licensed technology in the United States.' Robert Anthony Holton was born Jan. 26, 1944, in Fayetteville, N.C., the only child of Aaron T. Holton and Marion (Downing) Holton. His father, who served in World War II, was a decorated US Navy veteran and worked as a salesperson after the war. After his father died in 1959, when Robert was 15, he and his mother moved to Charlotte where he attended secondary school and where she worked as a high school mathematics teacher. In 1962, he enrolled at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill where he majored in chemistry and met his first wife, Juanita Bird. They moved in 1966 to Tallahassee, where he began work on a doctoral degree in chemistry at Florida State University. The couple divorced in the early 1980s. Advertisement After a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University, Dr. Holton taught chemistry at Purdue University and Virginia Tech. He returned to Florida State in 1985 as a faculty member. In 1999, Florida State named him a distinguished research professor, and in 2007 the Florida Academy of Sciences awarded him a medal for his scientific contributions. He was inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame in 2015 and retired from the university in 2023. 'He was very creative and was also a scientist that focused on really hard problems in chemistry,' Sam Huckaba, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida State University, said in an interview. 'It took that kind of drive to crack the synthesis of Taxol.' He added that Dr. Holton's work brought national attention to Florida State's chemistry department, as did the research of his second wife, Dr. Marie Krafft, also a professor of chemistry. She died in 2014. Dr. Holton is survived by three sons: Robert and David Holton, from his first marriage, and Paul Holton, from his second. This article originally appeared in
New York Times
02-07-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Robert Holton Dies at 81; His Potent Chemo Drug Saved Lives — and Trees
Robert A. Holton, a chemist who created a cheaper and environmentally kinder way to produce the cancer drug Taxol, synthesizing its key compound instead of extracting it from harvested yew trees, died on May 21 at his home in Tallahassee, Fla. He was 81. His death was confirmed by his son Paul Holton who said the cause was emphysema. In 1993, in his laboratory at Florida State University, where he was a professor, Dr. Holton created a method to produce Taxol. He constructed the drug, molecule by molecule, mimicking the plant's chemistry and eliminating the need to source material from the endangered western yew tree, Taxus brevifolia. He called the technique, which produced the medication in high amounts, the metal alkoxide process. He licensed his methodology to Bristol Myers Squibb, which became the first pharmaceutical company to manufacture Taxol. Generic versions are sold under the name paclitaxel. 'There was a worldwide race underway to synthesize it,' Dr. Jeff Boyd, chief scientific officer for the Northwell Health Cancer Institute in Manhasset, N.Y., on Long Island, said in an interview. 'Many groups were working on it because what was needed was a cheap and readily obtainable source of the drug. He was the first to achieve total organic synthesis.' Dr. Holton completed the artificially made compound on Dec. 9, 1993, beating dozens of competitors. Although scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., announced that they had also succeeded in synthesizing the drug, Dr. Holton's team was the first to publish details of its methods in a scientific journal. Before Dr. Holton's achievement, not only did three yews per patient have to die — because the bark where the anticancer alkaloid was first isolated had to be fully stripped — but the forests where they grew also stood to lose the bulk of these conifers. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dr Elisabeth Whipp, innovative oncologist who spoke out on television against ‘postcode prescribing'
Dr Elisabeth Whipp, who has died aged 77, was a leading oncologist who was suspended from Bristol Royal Infirmary in 2002 for carrying out an unapproved form of radiotherapy treatment; she was later cleared of wrongdoing, amid suggestions that her real transgression had been to make public criticisms of the vagaries of NHS funding. She made headlines in 1997 when she spoke out in an edition of Channel 4's Dispatches against the increasing prevalence of 'postcode prescribing'. She had been treating two breast cancer patients with the drug Taxol; one was from Taunton, and her treatment was funded by the Somerset Health Authority, but the second woman, from Bristol, had to negotiate an overdraft to raise £10,000 to pay for the drugs herself. 'There is always embarrassment about patients having to buy a drug,' Liz Whipp complained. 'After many years in the NHS I'm not used to bargaining with money.' In response, the Avon Health Authority argued that the money was more urgently needed for breast-care nurses. Liz Whipp was back in the news in early 2003 when it emerged that she had been suspended some weeks earlier amid questions over the experimental radiotherapy she had been prescribing. Previously, the location of tumour beds had been difficult to pinpoint and radiation had to be directed over the whole breast, with care taken to keep the dose low enough to minimise the risk of damaging the heart. Liz Whipp's innovation had been to use newly developed MRI scanners to locate the tumour beds more precisely and then target higher doses of radiation at a smaller area. Some of her colleagues considered that she was underestimating the risks that these higher doses posed, and Bristol Royal Infirmary took the decision to investigate her for carrying out treatment that had not been authorised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice). 'If we allow unfettered clinical freedom to take place we will end up with situations where patients will receive treatments which are not in accordance with Nice guidance,' a hospital spokesman insisted. Liz Whipp suggested in later life, however, that certain male colleagues had not approved of her breaking the omerta around NHS funding and had been waiting for an opportunity to take her down a peg. She was suspected of having broken rules by encouraging patients to complain to their MPs about NHS restrictions on the availability of drugs such as Herceptin. The suspension of Liz Whipp became a cause célèbre, with the shadow health secretary Liam Fox arguing that she was the victim of an NHS culture that victimised whistleblowers: 'I can't see any case to say this doctor acted in an unprofessional way. In fact, it seems to have been quite the opposite and she has acted in the interest of her patients. Dr Whipp has been suspended for what we regard as totally spurious reasons.' Her former patients queued up to praise her. One 77-year-old man told the press: 'She is an extremely compassionate woman and very sympathetic. She was the best doctor I could have had and I think that she saved my life.' Liz Whipp – who pointed out that, of 542 patients given the experimental treatment, only two had seen their cancer return – claimed that she had in fact always followed Nice guidelines. Nevertheless she was suspended for nearly two years while the United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust investigated her. She was completely exonerated, but although she returned to work she was deeply pained by the experience and grieved by the thought that many patients had died unnecessarily while her treatment programme was on hold. The daughter of Brian Whipp, an academic, Elisabeth Clare Whipp was born on September 9 1947. She read medicine at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and worked at the London Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital before moving to Bristol in the early 1980s. As a long-serving radiotherapy consultant at the Royal Infirmary's Haematology and Oncology Centre, Liz Whipp gained a reputation for speaking her mind. In 1983 she made waves by criticising Prince Charles for visiting the Bristol Cancer Help Centre, a charity that was advocating the rejection of orthodox medicine in favour of alternative treatments: 'I do feel strongly about the Prince of Wales making a Royal tour of something that's full of bogus notions.' She became renowned for her innovative thinking, which was not confined to the development of radiotherapy. Convinced that the mental welfare of patients played a large role in their recovery, she appointed a clinical psychologist, Dr James Brennan, to work with her at Bristol; this was the first full-time clinical psychology post in cancer services in the NHS. Experience taught her that when it came to coping with cancer, 'single women… do better, because they tend to have women friends, whereas a lot of married women have husbands they can't talk to about health.' Described by one friend as 'a statuesque woman, combining a pre-Raphaelite beauty with the charisma of a Valkyrie', Liz Whipp was a keen painter and a fine pianist and singer: on one occasion she found herself in a musical duel with Germaine Greer, competing to see who could give the better rendering of the Queen of the Night's aria from The Magic Flute. She had recently finished the first draft of a gleefully horrific thriller, utilising her medical background to devise a series of especially gruesome murders. She created a beautiful garden at her home in Clifton, finding room in a relatively small space for a pool of koi carp, a stream, quiet pathways, a grotto and a bamboo grove. Her wide circle of friends was treated to extravagant garden parties complete with fireworks. On one occasion a neighbour disgruntled by the noise spitefully padlocked the gates at the end of her drive to inconvenience the guests – a futile gesture, as no guest at one of Liz Whipp's parties left until they absolutely had to. Elisabeth Whipp, born September 9 1947, died April 26 2025 Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
WebMD
06-05-2025
- Health
- WebMD
Scalp Care During Chemo
One of my cancer treatments was paclitaxel, also known as Taxol. From the beginning, my doctor informed me that one of the likely side effects would be hair loss. She explained that the rate of hair loss varies from person to person and mentioned something called 'cold capping' that might help prevent some of it. At that time, cold capping wasn't covered by my insurance, so it wasn't an option for me. After my second infusion, I noticed my hair falling out at a noticeable rate. That's when I decided to cut it shorter to make the loss less apparent. However, the inevitable happened – chunks of hair were left on my pillowcase and in the shower. I eventually chose to shave my head to avoid the emotional and mental anguish of losing my hair piece by piece. As someone who always enjoyed having long, full hair, these changes were challenging, uncomfortable, and deeply emotional. However, I learned ways to care for my scalp and bring myself comfort during this phase of my treatment. The Effects of Chemotherapy on the Scalp Chemotherapy affects hair follicles, causing hair to fall out and leaving the scalp tender, sensitive, and dry. Here are the steps I took to care for my scalp during this time: 1. Gentle Cleansing Using a mild, fragrance-free cleanser made a big difference in reducing irritation. Harsh chemicals or strong fragrances can cause additional sensitivity, so it's important to choose products designed for sensitive skin. If you're unsure, a dermatologist can provide recommendations. 2. Hydration Keeping my scalp hydrated was essential to preventing further dryness and discomfort. I loved using organic aloe vera gel, which I bought from Amazon – it was soothing and effective. I also used a small amount of leave-in conditioner, which felt more like applying lotion. Even without hair, this helped keep my scalp moisturized and comfortable. Be sure to check product labels to avoid hidden fragrances that might cause irritation. 3. Sun Protection Protecting your scalp from the sun is incredibly important since it becomes more vulnerable without hair. I used sunscreen specifically designed for sensitive skin, avoiding strong fragrances to minimize irritation. 4. Accessories Wearing a wig, beanie, or head wrap can offer both protection and comfort. It's important to ensure these items are clean to avoid irritation. Many local cancer centers or the American Cancer Society offer free accessories, so be sure to check with them. A Note on Emotional Well-Being Losing your hair is much more than just a physical change. It comes with an emotional toll that's deeply personal. Everyone's relationship with their hair is different, and so is the process of grieving its loss. It's important to remember that it's not 'just hair,' and it's OK to feel whatever emotions come up. Be gentle with yourself and prioritize your mental well-being. There's no right or wrong way to navigate this journey. If you feel overwhelmed, consider reaching out to your local cancer center for resources and support groups. There is a community ready to help you through this.
