Will cancer drug Taxol someday help Texas spine injury victims?

Often in medicine drugs that were developed to help with one disorder are found – sometimes by accident – to help with a completely unrelated disorder.  This is the case with Taxol, a drug developed to treat cancer.

 

Taxol, also known by its generic name paclitaxel, kills cancer cells by preventing them from dividing and multiplying.  It is given to cancer patients in high doses to kill the cancer cells.  However, researchers have found that Taxol may have a very beneficial effect on damaged spinal cord nerves in small doses.

 

Preliminary studies in rats have shown that small doses of Taxol applied to rats with spinal cord injuries actually caused spinal nerve cells to grow.  In fact, Taxol had two beneficial effects: it both encouraged the nerve cells to grow and reduced inhibitory factors that lead to slowed growth and scarring.

 

Rats with spinal cord injuries given Taxol performed better on tests than similarly injured rats that were not given the drug.  Researchers hope that Taxol will both helps nerve cells regenerate and helps reduce scarring in humans.

 

The rat studies are just preliminary, but researchers hope that with further work Taxol may offer hope of spinal cord nerve regeneration for accident victims disabled by a serious back injury. 

 

Texas spine injury victims: get the compensation you need for therapy and rehabilitation after a serious accident. Contact our experienced, compassionate Houston back injury attorneys today at (877) 724-7800.