Short answer: It disrupts proper cellular division by inhibiting spindle function.
More information than you could need to know can be found at the link below. Check the references section of the wikipedia page for more the more detailed explanations used to generate the page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paclitaxel
When cancer cells are exposed to taxol, the taxol forms structures that look like tiny cages around each cancer cell. These structures prevent the cancer cells from dividing. As a result, the cancer cannot grow and spread.
Taxol is usually a drug which is prescribed for the illness cancer. This is commonly used to treat 3 types of cancer these types include breast, ovarian and non small cell lung cancer.
Taxol is a chemical substance derived from a yew tree of the pacific coast.
taxol
Because it is.. pfft
Taxol is derived from the bark of the Pacific yew tree, scientifically known as Taxus brevifolia. In the plant, taxol functions as a defense mechanism against herbivores and pathogens by stabilizing the microtubules, thereby inhibiting cell division. This property is what makes taxol valuable in medicine, especially for its use in cancer treatment.
The chemical in yew tree bark is taxol, which is a powerful anti-cancer compound that has been used in cancer treatments.
Taxol binds to ß-tubulin to promote microtubule assembly and it stabilises the microtubules and messes up the equilibrium between tubulin and microtubule. A cell with stable microtubules proceeds to programmed cell death without dividing. Nathalie Narraidoo University of Nottingham
Taxol was first discovered in Taxus brevifolia Nutt in 1971.
Confirerophyta is the phylum where taxol was originally found.
Taxol was first discovered in Taxus brevifolia Nutt in 1971.
Because Taxol can induce the assembly of tubulin into microtubules and stabalizes them to the extent that mitosis of cancer cells is disrupted.