International Journal of Advances in Pharmaceutical Sciences 2 (2011) 29-32 http://www.arjournals.org/index.php/ijaps Original Research article Spectrophotometric estimation of paclitaxel Prashant Kesarwani, Rakesh K. Tekade, N. K. Jain* *Corresponding author: Prof. N. K. Jain Pharmaceutics Research Laboratory Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. Hari Singh Gour University, SAGAR 470 003 [INDIA] prashant_pharmacy04@rediffmail.com Abstract A simple, precise and accurate method was developed and validated by using a simple solvent system for paclitaxel (PTX) bulk and tablet dosage form. In the developed method, PBS (phosphate buffer pH- 7.4) and methanol was used as solvents. The Ȝ max was determined to be 230 nm. The linearity concentration range was 2-20ȝg/ml with the correlation coefficient of 0.993. The percentage recovery for PTX was found to be 99.82 to 100.48%. Key Words : Paclitaxel, Methanol, Absorption Maxima. Introduction According to the Global Cancer Report issued by the World Health Organization, there are over 10 million new cases of cancer each year and over 6 million annual deaths from the disease [1]. Cancer may be defined as uncontrolled multiplication of abnormal cells. Cancer is the most common name given by the ancient Romans for a large group of diseases that are characterized by following basic features: Uncontrolled cell proliferation; Loss of cellular differentiation; and the ability to invade surrounding tissues and to establish new growth thereafter [2]. PTX, an anti-microtubule agent isolated from the trunk bark of the Pacific Yew tree, Taxus brevifolia [3], shows great promise as an anti- neoplastic agent for a variety of human cancers, including breast, ovarian, non-small-cell lung, head and neck [4-8]. PTX, chemically [2aR- 2aα, 4β, 4aβ, 6β, 9α (αR * ,βS * ), 11α, 12α, 12aα, 12bα]]-β-(Benzoyl- amino) -α- hydroxybenzenepropanoic acid 6, 12b– bis(acetyloxy) -12-(benzoyloxy)- 2a, 3, 4, 4a, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 12a, 12b–dodecahydro –4, 11– dihydroxy–4a, 8, 13, 13–tetramethyl–5–oxo–7, 11–methano–1H-cyclodeca-[3, 4]benz[1, 2- b]oxet–9–yl ester, is an anticancer drug. Its unique mechanism of action is related to its ability to promote microtubule assembly and inhibit cell replication in the late G2 or M phase of the cell cycle [9]. It is not significantly absorbed after oral administration and is metabolized in the liver with the help of the cytochrome P450 isoforms CYP2C8 and CYP3A4. It undergoes extensive extra vascular distribution and/or tissue binding, but does not cross the blood–brain barrier. For standard curve of PTX Sugahara et al., 2002 [10] reported an older method using 50% v/v methanol but, required quantity of methanol was too high that it may affect result during drug release studies. A successful attempt was made herewith to modify the older method. Materials and Methods Chemicals and Reagents All chemicals used were of analytical grade. Methanol was purchased from Qualigens Fine Chemicals (Mumbai, India), Na 2 HPO 4 (Himedia Laboratories, Mumbai, India), NaCl (Ranbaxy Fine Chemicals Ltd, New Delhi, India), NaOH and KH 2 PO 4 were purchased from E Merk (India) Ltd (Mumbai, India). Doubled distilled water was used throughout the study. PTX was received as a gift samples from Dabur, New Delhi (India) as a ISSN: 0976-1055 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License .