The leaves of yew trees grown in Sussex are being used to help produce a life-saving cancer drug.

More than 80kg of yew leaves have been collected at Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, by gardeners who have spent each morning pruning the trees and preserving the cuttings.

They will be shipped to France, where experts will use them to create the pioneering drug paclitaxel.

A natural derivative of the chemical was found in yew trees, Taxus baccata, several years ago but it was only recently identified as a promising anti-cancer agent.

Paclitaxel is a chemotherapy drug mainly used to treat breast cancer, ovarian cancer and some lung cancers.

Doctors are trying to establish whether it could be used to treat other types of cancer, including leukaemia, lymphoma and cancers of the head, neck and colon.

Gardens manager Chris Clennett said: "Demand has been growing as more uses are found for the drug. It takes a lot of yew clippings even for a small amount so the more that can be collected the better.

"At least we know they are going to be used for something which is going to help a lot of people."

A Wakehurst spokesman said: "This is a perfect example of how important plants are to the human race and why Kew's conservation work is so important to prevent species becoming extinct before scientists have been able to find out about them."

Wednesday August 6, 2003