1. By Amy Evans Economic Botany

2. o Small to medium-sized evergreen tree o Reddish-brown trunk with dark, flat leaves o Every part of plant is poisonous due to Taxine

3. o Native to the pacific northwest o Extremely slow-growing o Can live for a very long time o One of the only conifers trimmed regularly into hedges

4. o Monroe E. Wall and Mansukh C. Wani created the drug from the bark of the English Yew o Mitotic inhibitor o Used in breast, ovarian and lung cancer treatment o Given intravenously (IV) o Annual sales peaked in 2000, reaching $1.6 billion

5. o Low blood counts o Hair loss o Joint and muscle pain (usually resolved within a few days) o Peripheral neuropathy o Nausea/ vomiting (usually mild) o Diarrhea o Mouth sores o Hypersensitivity *all side effects experienced by more than 30% of the experimental group

6. o The first clinical report was issued in May of 1988 showing a 30% success rate in ovarian cancer patients o Paclitaxel Greenness Project by Bristol-Myers Squibb o Princeton- Ovarian Cancer o Vascular Research Center- Lung cancer (preliminary) o Oxford Journal Study- Head/neck cancer

7. o http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/18831 8/English-yew http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/18831 8/English-yew o http://www.chemocare.com/bio/paclitaxel.asp http://www.chemocare.com/bio/paclitaxel.asp o http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/8228/8228green chemistry.html http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/8228/8228green chemistry.html o Princeston Study o http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi- bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07- 10-2000/0001261714&EDATE= http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi- bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07- 10-2000/0001261714&EDATE o Vascular Research Center o http://www.vascularweb.org/professionals/Researc h/Basic_Articles/Neointimal_hyperplasia_clowes.ht ml http://www.vascularweb.org/professionals/Researc h/Basic_Articles/Neointimal_hyperplasia_clowes.ht ml o Oxford Journal o http://jjco.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/34/9 /499 http://jjco.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/34/9 /499