Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel) is a chemotherapy drug used to treat breast cancer that has spread, known as secondary breast cancer.
Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel) is a chemotherapy drug used to treat breast cancer that has spread, known as secondary breast cancer. It may also be used to treat other types of cancer in a research trial.
Abraxane consists of the chemotherapy drug anthracycline that is bound up or enclosed in a special protein called albumin, which is found in human blood. This makes it easier to give than paclitaxel, and there’s also less risk of an allergic reaction. Abraxane is usually given when other chemotherapy drugs are no longer working and treatment with an anthracycline chemotherapy drug, such as epirubicin, is unsuitable.
Abraxane is typically administered through a fine tube (cannula) inserted into a vein.
In November 2013, US biotech company Celgene Corp (Nasdaq: CELG) International announced that the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use had adopted a positive opinion for Abraxane (paclitaxel formulated as albumin bound nanoparticles, or nab-paclitaxel) in combination with gemcitabine for first-line treatment of adult patients with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas.