Monthly Update: Oncologic,Endocrine & Metabolic: What's new about new tubulin/microtubules binding agents?

Pharmaceutical research on new anticancer drugs continues in two directions: a ‘prospective’ one involving the selection of compounds acting on ‘new’ biological targets; and a ‘conservative’ one involving the selection of chemotherapeutic agents acting on ‘validated’ targets. Clinical interest in paclitaxel (Taxol?) and docetaxel (Taxotere?) has led to a reactivation of research on agents that bind tubulin/microtubules. Several new antimitotic compounds were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Toronto, last April.