FDA approved taxol for treating women who had not responded to cisplatin . The approval was based on taxol's consistent effects and the unusual circumstance that many well-studied drugs had failed to show such activity.
Other Trials Drug combinations—particularly with a new compound such as taxol—are the subject of many investigational studies, often called pilot studies, that are based on experimental or early clinical observations. Patients enrolled in these trials often benefit from the drug programs. The risk of unexpected toxicities is minimized by the studies being performed in facilities with both experienced physician-investigators and the tools for accurate data collection.
Groups of patients also often receive certain investigational drugs from the NCI when the drug has been found useful but, for a variety of reasons, cannot be made commercially available.
