The aim of this study is to compare the effects of new fluorinated taxanes SB-T-12851, SB-T-12852, SB-T-12853, and SB-T-12854 with those of the classical taxane, paclitaxel, and novel non-fluorinated taxane SB-T-1216 on cancer cells. Paclitaxel-sensitive MDA-MB-435 and paclitaxel-resistant NCI/ADR-RES human cancer cell lines were used. Cell growth and survival evaluation, colorimetric assessment of caspases activities, flow cytometric analyses of the cell cycle and the assessment of mitochondrial membrane potential, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria were studied. All fluorinated taxanes examined have similar effects on cell growth and survival. For MDA-MB-435 cells, the C 50 values of SB-T-12851, SB-T-12852, SB-T-12853 and SB-T-12854 were 3 nM, 4 nM, 3 nM and 5 nM, respectively. For paclitaxel-resistant NCI/ADR-RES cells, the C 50 values of SB-T-12851, SB-T-12852, SB-T-12853, and SB-T-12854 were 20 nM, 20 nM, 10 nM and 10nM, respectively. Selected fluorinated taxanes, SB-T-12853 and SB-T-12854, at the cell death-inducing concentrations (30 nM for MDA-MB-435 and 300 nM for NCI/ADR-RES) were shown to activate significantly caspase-3, caspase-2 and caspase-9, as well as caspase-8 in lesser extent. Cell death was associated with significant accumulation of cells in the G 2 /M phase. Cytochrome c was not found to be released from mitochondria and other mitochondrial functions were not significantly impaired. The new fluorinated taxanes appear to use the same or very similar mechanisms of cell death induction as compared with SB-T-1216 and paclitaxel. New fluorinated and non-fluorinated taxanes are more effective against drug-resistant cancer cells than paclitaxel. Therefore, new generation taxanes, either non-fluorinated or fluorinated, are excellent candidates for further and detailed studies.