Metronomic therapy

Last updated

Metronomic therapy is a new type of chemotherapy in which anti-cancer drugs are administered in a lower dose than the maximum tolerated dose repetitively over a long period to treat cancers with fewer side effects. Metronomic therapy is shown to affect both tumor microenvironment and tumor cells to achieve its therapeutic effects. [1] Metronomic therapy is also cost-effective as a lower dose is used compared to conventional chemotherapy. [2] The use of metronomic therapy has been extensively investigated and can be advantageous in selected group of patients. [3] Yet, more clinical trials are necessary to generalize the method. [4]

Contents


Comparison with conventional chemotherapy

Conventional chemotherapy

In conventional chemotherapy, a dose close to the maximum tolerated dose is administered in a bolus manner to achieve cytotoxic effects on tumor cells. [5] However, the side effects are often significant as the cytotoxic agents also kill the fast-dividing cells normally present in the body, such as bone marrow cells and epithelial cells of the gastrointestinal tract. [6] A treatment break is thus required to allow recovery in these normal tissues.

Metronomic therapy

In metronomic therapy, a lower dose, typically varying from one-tenth to one-third of the maximum tolerated dose, is administered frequently to maintain a low concentration of the drugs in the plasma. [3] It is commonly given in oral form, which is more convenient for patients and has a lower cost compared with intravenous form used in conventional chemotherapy. [5] At a low concentration, the drugs primarily act on the tumor microenvironment including the tumor endothelial cells and immune cells. As a lower dose is used, the risk of having severe side effects, such as neutropenia, is lower. [3] [7]

Comparison of characteristics between conventional and metronomic therapy
Conventional chemotherapyMetronomic therapy
DosageClose to maximum tolerated doseMuch lower than maximum tolerated dose
Dosing intervalLess frequentMore frequent
Route of administrationVarious e.g. intravenous, oralOral
Mechanisms of actionCytotoxicityVarious e.g. anti-angiogenesis, immunomodulation
Side effectsMore significantLess severe

Mechanisms of action

Multiple mechanisms of action have been studied in both pre-clinical and clinical settings. Instead of directly killing the tumor cells, the drugs in metronomic therapy suppress tumor growth mainly by inhibiting tumor angiogenesis and modulating the immune response against tumors. [1] There is also emerging evidence that metronomic therapy may also act on tumor cells by inducing tumor dormancy and senescence. [8]

Anti-angiogenesis

Angiogenesis occurs in cancers. Angiogenesis medical animation still.jpg
Angiogenesis occurs in cancers.

Angiogenesis supports tumor growth by ensuring sufficient oxygen and nutrient supply to the rapidly-proliferating tumor cells. [9] Metronomic therapy can inhibit tumor angiogenesis by multiple mechanisms. It selectively inhibits the proliferation and induces apoptosis of tumor endothelial cells, without disrupting the endothelial cells of normal blood vessels. [8] This is probably mediated by increasing the expression of thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), which inhibits angiogenesis. [5] Another target of metronomic therapy is the bone marrow-derived circulating endothelial progenitor cells (CEPs), which are involved in tumor angiogenesis. Metronomic therapy was found to decrease the level of CEPs. [1]

Immunomodulation

Regulatory T cell, a target of metronomic therapy, can suppress other immune cells. Mechanisms of suppression by regulatory T cells.png
Regulatory T cell, a target of metronomic therapy, can suppress other immune cells.

Tumor cells develop various means to evade immunosurveillance of the host. [9] The number of CD4+ CD25+ FOXP3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) was found to increase in various types of tumors, suppressing both specific and innate immune responses. [5] Metronomic therapy can selectively inhibit Tregs and therefore activate CD8+ cytotoxic T cells and CD4+ helper T cells responsible for tumor-specific immunity, as well as natural killer cells (NK cells) involved in innate immunity. [10] [11] This selective inhibition is not observed in conventional chemotherapy which reduces the number of all lymphocyte subsets. In addition, some chemotherapeutic agents including cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, vinblastine, paclitaxel and etoposide can promote maturation and antigen-presenting ability of dendritic cells, which in turn facilitate the T-cell mediated immune response against tumors. [12]

Uses under investigation

Cancers in adults

Breast cancer

In the breast cancer settings, several drugs that are commonly used in conventional chemotherapy such as methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, vinorelbine and fluoropyrimidines have been tested either as monotherapy or in combination with other therapies including hormonal therapy, targeted therapy and vaccines. [13]

Although there have been many cases that metronomic therapy did not create synergy with other therapies, a number of studies have proven the efficacy of metronomic therapy in treatment of intractable breast cancer. [14] In fact, a recent study presented at American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) congress in 2017 announced the effect of metronomic regimens. [15] The study also encourages further studies about finding appropriate regimen and its optimal dosage.

Prostate cancer

While prostate cancer is usually treated with surgery, metronomic therapy may be useful in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) which is the stage of prostate cancer that does not respond to medical treatment anymore. [16] Although docetaxel, a drug used as regimen was found to be effective in treatment of CRPC in 2004, [17] using docetaxel caused serious side effects such as neuropathy and fatigue. [18] This is undesirable especially when most patients with prostate cancer are old-aged. The response to newer medications, such as enzalutamide and abiraterone, is also variable. [1] However, recent studies have found out that metronomic chemotherapy using cyclophosphamide was more beneficial with fewer side effects as the therapy uses smaller amount of regimens which cause severe side effects. Since metronomic chemotherapy was proven to be an effective alternative, studies to find about the most beneficial combination of regimens with fewest side effects need to be investigated. [19]

Lung cancer

Metronomic therapy was discovered to be effective in treatment of lung cancer as well, especially in metastatic non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). [20] There are a variety of drugs used for cancer treatment. Vinorelbine is one of the drugs that are used for cancer treatment. Using vinorelbine as a regimen was shown to be feasible for very elderly patients who tend to have multiple comorbidities which is a condition that a patient has more than two diseases at a time, and require multiple medications [20] but, the effect of metronomic therapy is not only limited to aged patients. Etoposide may also be effective in these frail patients. Although metastatic or recurrent lung cancer is difficult to be completely cured with modern medical technology, metronomic therapy is feasible as a palliative therapy by reducing tumor burden and improving patients' quality of life. Future research is expected to be experimenting effects of combinations with vinorelbine and other treatments. [21]

Ovarian cancer

Metronomic therapy has been investigated for treatment of metastatic ovarian cancer as it is less costly and it improves patients’ quality of lives compared to conventional therapy. [22] It may also be useful in patients who have platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. [1]

From 2012 to 2016, six ovarian cancer patients who could not be treated with conventional therapy were treated with metronomic cyclophosphamide. [23] Although the clinical outcomes do not only depend on metronomic therapy but also previous treatments they had received, the treatment provided the progress of ovarian cancers and one case was found to have nearly complete clinical remission. Despite the encouraging results, there are not many clinical trials using metronomic therapy for ovarian cancer. Most of the findings are from case reports and pre-clinical trials. Due to few clinical trials and lack of information about the applications, it is still risky and questionable to substitute conventional therapy used in treatment of ovarian cancer. [24]

Paediatric cancers

Paediatric cancers have been a challenge due to the expense of treatment. In fact, the cure rate in high-income countries and low-income countries are 80% and 10% respectively. [25] [26] Therefore, lowering the expense of paediatric cancers is a key to improve the quality of life worldwide. [2] Metronomic therapy can be a good way to reduce the expense of cancer treatment. In terms of using metronomic therapy for paediatric cancers, it has been very effective as children have stronger immunity and tend to have fewer comorbidities compared to elderly cancer patients. [27] Despite a few clinical trials, some trials still highlighted the effectiveness of metronomic therapy as well as cost-effectiveness. [28] [29]

Limitations

The use of metronomic therapy is still of limited use and requires further evaluation. Currently, most of the clinical studies are phase I and II trials. [28] There are only about ten studies which have proceeded to phase III. [4]

Heterogeneity of studies

The studies are heterogeneous in terms of patient selection, chemotherapeutic agents, dosage and dosing interval. [3] Correspondingly, the clinical outcomes are variable. Multiple reviews pointed out that further studies should be carried out to determine the most effective drugs, dosage and dosing interval according to tumor and patient characteristics. [3] [28] [29]

Lack of promising biomarkers

Different biomarkers for monitoring the patients’ response towards metronomic therapy have been tested, but the results showed that the biomarkers did not correlate well with the treatment response. [29] Without proper biomarkers, it is difficult to determine the optimal metronomic dose for the patients.

Blood biomarkers related to angiogenesis, such as VEGF, TSP-1, circulating endothelial cells (CECs) and CEPs, have been tested. It was reviewed that most studies did not show a significant correlation between the level of these biomarkers and the treatment response, in terms of clinical outcomes such as overall survival and progression-free survival. [30] This is likely due to the complex interplay of factors in angiogenesis. [30]

Besides blood biomarkers, an imaging called dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) has also been used. It assesses the tumor vascularity by measuring blood flow, fractional intravascular volume and other related parameters. However, as it only selects one or two portions of the tumor for measurement, it may not represent the overall vascularity and predict the response. [31]

Biomarkers related to the immunomodulatory effects of metronomic therapy are also under investigation. The most commonly studied one is Tregs. With advances in technologies, not only the number of Tregs but also other properties such as receptor profile and functioning of Tregs can be studied, which may aid in finding more suitable biomarkers in the future. [31]

History

The term “metronomic therapy” was first used by Douglas Hanahan in 2000. [32] In his commentary on two animal studies testing the effects of metronomic dosing of chemotherapeutic agents on tumor growth, he suggested that metronomic therapy was a potential new modality of chemotherapy with clinical value. [32] [33] [34]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chemotherapy</span> Treatment of cancer using drugs that inhibit cell division or kill cells

Chemotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherapy may be given with a curative intent or it may aim to prolong life or to reduce symptoms. Chemotherapy is one of the major categories of the medical discipline specifically devoted to pharmacotherapy for cancer, which is called medical oncology.

Bevacizumab, sold under the brand name Avastin among others, is a medication used to treat a number of types of cancers and a specific eye disease. For cancer, it is given by slow injection into a vein (intravenous) and used for colon cancer, lung cancer, glioblastoma, and renal-cell carcinoma. In many of these diseases it is used as a first-line therapy. For age-related macular degeneration it is given by injection into the eye (intravitreal).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyclophosphamide</span> Medication used as chemotherapy and to suppress the immune system

Cyclophosphamide (CP), also known as cytophosphane among other names, is a medication used as chemotherapy and to suppress the immune system. As chemotherapy it is used to treat lymphoma, multiple myeloma, leukemia, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, small cell lung cancer, neuroblastoma, and sarcoma. As an immune suppressor it is used in nephrotic syndrome, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, and following organ transplant, among other conditions. It is taken by mouth or injection into a vein.

An angiogenesis inhibitor is a substance that inhibits the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis). Some angiogenesis inhibitors are endogenous and a normal part of the body's control and others are obtained exogenously through pharmaceutical drugs or diet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Targeted therapy</span> Type of therapy

Targeted therapy or molecularly targeted therapy is one of the major modalities of medical treatment (pharmacotherapy) for cancer, others being hormonal therapy and cytotoxic chemotherapy. As a form of molecular medicine, targeted therapy blocks the growth of cancer cells by interfering with specific targeted molecules needed for carcinogenesis and tumor growth, rather than by simply interfering with all rapidly dividing cells. Because most agents for targeted therapy are biopharmaceuticals, the term biologic therapy is sometimes synonymous with targeted therapy when used in the context of cancer therapy. However, the modalities can be combined; antibody-drug conjugates combine biologic and cytotoxic mechanisms into one targeted therapy.

Adjuvant therapy, also known as adjunct therapy, adjuvant care, or augmentation therapy, is a therapy that is given in addition to the primary or initial therapy to maximize its effectiveness. The surgeries and complex treatment regimens used in cancer therapy have led the term to be used mainly to describe adjuvant cancer treatments. An example of such adjuvant therapy is the additional treatment usually given after surgery where all detectable disease has been removed, but where there remains a statistical risk of relapse due to the presence of undetected disease. If known disease is left behind following surgery, then further treatment is not technically adjuvant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes</span>

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) are white blood cells that have left the bloodstream and migrated towards a tumor. They include T cells and B cells and are part of the larger category of ‘tumor-infiltrating immune cells’ which consist of both mononuclear and polymorphonuclear immune cells, in variable proportions. Their abundance varies with tumor type and stage and in some cases relates to disease prognosis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epithelioid sarcoma</span> Medical condition

Epithelioid sarcoma is a rare soft tissue sarcoma arising from mesenchymal tissue and characterized by epithelioid-like features. It accounts for less than 1% of all soft tissue sarcomas. It was first clearly characterized by F.M. Enzinger in 1970. It commonly presents itself in the distal limbs of young adults as a small, soft mass or a series of bumps. A proximal version has also been described, frequently occurring in the upper extremities. Rare cases have been reported in the pelvis, vulva, penis, and spine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma</span> Dendritic cell sarcoma cancer that effects the follicular dendritic cells

Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma (FDCS) is an extremely rare neoplasm. While the existence of FDC tumors was predicted by Lennert in 1978, the tumor wasn't fully recognized as its own cancer until 1986 after characterization by Monda et al. It accounts for only 0.4% of soft tissue sarcomas, but has significant recurrent and metastatic potential and is considered an intermediate grade malignancy. The major hurdle in treating FDCS has been misdiagnosis. It is a newly characterized cancer, and because of its similarities in presentation and markers to lymphoma, both Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin subtypes, diagnosis of FDCS can be difficult. With recent advancements in cancer biology better diagnostic assays and chemotherapeutic agents have been made to more accurately diagnose and treat FDCS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treatment of cancer</span> Overview of various treatment possibilities for cancer

Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy and synthetic lethality, most commonly as a series of separate treatments. The choice of therapy depends upon the location and grade of the tumor and the stage of the disease, as well as the general state of the patient. Cancer genome sequencing helps in determining which cancer the patient exactly has for determining the best therapy for the cancer. A number of experimental cancer treatments are also under development. Under current estimates, two in five people will have cancer at some point in their lifetime.

Pelareorep is a proprietary isolate of the unmodified human reovirus being developed as a systemically administered immuno-oncological viral agent for the treatment of solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Pelareorep is an oncolytic virus, which means that it preferentially lyses cancer cells. Pelareorep also promotes an inflamed tumor phenotype through innate and adaptive immune responses. Preliminary clinical trials indicate that it may have anti-cancer effects across a variety of cancer types when administered alone and in combination with other cancer therapies.

Angiokinase inhibitors are a new therapeutic target for the management of cancer. They inhibit tumour angiogenesis, one of the key processes leading to invasion and metastasis of solid tumours, by targeting receptor tyrosine kinases. Examples include nintedanib, afatinib and motesanib.

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a nerve-damaging side effect of antineoplastic agents in the common cancer treatment, chemotherapy. CIPN afflicts between 30% and 40% of patients undergoing chemotherapy. Antineoplastic agents in chemotherapy are designed to eliminate rapidly dividing cancer cells, but they can also damage healthy structures, including the peripheral nervous system. CIPN involves various symptoms such as tingling, pain, and numbness in the hands and feet. These symptoms can impair activities of daily living, such as typing or dressing, reduce balance, and increase risk of falls and hospitalizations. They can also give cause to reduce or discontinue chemotherapy. Researchers have conducted clinical trials and studies to uncover the various symptoms, causes, pathogenesis, diagnoses, risk factors, and treatments of CIPN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cancer biomarker</span> Substance or process that is indicative of the presence of cancer in the body

A cancer biomarker refers to a substance or process that is indicative of the presence of cancer in the body. A biomarker may be a molecule secreted by a tumor or a specific response of the body to the presence of cancer. Genetic, epigenetic, proteomic, glycomic, and imaging biomarkers can be used for cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and epidemiology. Ideally, such biomarkers can be assayed in non-invasively collected biofluids like blood or serum.

mTOR inhibitors Class of pharmaceutical drugs

mTOR inhibitors are a class of drugs that inhibit the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), which is a serine/threonine-specific protein kinase that belongs to the family of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) related kinases (PIKKs). mTOR regulates cellular metabolism, growth, and proliferation by forming and signaling through two protein complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2. The most established mTOR inhibitors are so-called rapalogs, which have shown tumor responses in clinical trials against various tumor types.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are a class of immune cells present in high numbers in the microenvironment of solid tumors. They are heavily involved in cancer-related inflammation. Macrophages are known to originate from bone marrow-derived blood monocytes or yolk sac progenitors, but the exact origin of TAMs in human tumors remains to be elucidated. The composition of monocyte-derived macrophages and tissue-resident macrophages in the tumor microenvironment depends on the tumor type, stage, size, and location, thus it has been proposed that TAM identity and heterogeneity is the outcome of interactions between tumor-derived, tissue-specific, and developmental signals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tumor microenvironment</span> Surroundings of tumors including nearby cells and blood vessels

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is the environment around a tumor, including the surrounding blood vessels, immune cells, fibroblasts, signaling molecules and the extracellular matrix (ECM). The tumor and the surrounding microenvironment are closely related and interact constantly. Tumors can influence the microenvironment by releasing extracellular signals, promoting tumor angiogenesis and inducing peripheral immune tolerance, while the immune cells in the microenvironment can affect the growth and evolution of cancerous cells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tumor-associated endothelial cell</span>

Tumor-associated endothelial cells or tumor endothelial cells (TECs) refers to cells lining the tumor-associated blood vessels that control the passage of nutrients into surrounding tumor tissue. Across different cancer types, tumor-associated blood vessels have been discovered to differ significantly from normal blood vessels in morphology, gene expression, and functionality in ways that promote cancer progression. There has been notable interest in developing cancer therapeutics that capitalize on these abnormalities of the tumor-associated endothelium to destroy tumors.

The host response to cancer therapy is defined as a physiological response of the non-malignant cells of the body to a specific cancer therapy. The response is therapy-specific, occurring independently of cancer type or stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cellular adoptive immunotherapy</span> Cellular adoptive immunotherapy

Cellular adoptive immunotherapy is a type of immunotherapy. Immune cells such as T-cells are usually isolated from patients for expansion or engineering purposes and reinfused back into patients to fight diseases using their own immune system. A major application of cellular adoptive therapy is cancer treatment, as the immune system plays a vital role in the development and growth of cancer. The primary types of cellular adoptive immunotherapies are T cell therapies. Other therapies include CAR-T therapy, CAR-NK therapy, macrophage-based immunotherapy and dendritic cell therapy.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Simsek C, Esin E, Yalcin S (2019-03-20). "Metronomic Chemotherapy: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Clinical Experience". Journal of Oncology. 2019: 5483791. doi: 10.1155/2019/5483791 . PMC   6446118 . PMID   31015835.
  2. 1 2 Magrath I, Steliarova-Foucher E, Epelman S, Ribeiro RC, Harif M, Li CK, et al. (March 2013). "Paediatric cancer in low-income and middle-income countries". The Lancet. Oncology. 14 (3): e104-16. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(13)70008-1. PMID   23434340.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Lien K, Georgsdottir S, Sivanathan L, Chan K, Emmenegger U (November 2013). "Low-dose metronomic chemotherapy: a systematic literature analysis". European Journal of Cancer. 49 (16): 3387–95. doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2013.06.038. PMID   23880474.
  4. 1 2 "U.S. National Library of Medicine ClinicalTrials.gov".
  5. 1 2 3 4 Maiti R (July 2014). "Metronomic chemotherapy". Journal of Pharmacology & Pharmacotherapeutics. 5 (3): 186–92. doi: 10.4103/0976-500x.136098 . PMC   4156829 . PMID   25210398.
  6. Priestman T (2012). Cancer chemotherapy in clinical practice. Springer. ISBN   978-0-85729-727-3. OCLC   802047267.
  7. Montagna E, Cancello G, Dellapasqua S, Munzone E, Colleoni M (September 2014). "Metronomic therapy and breast cancer: a systematic review". Cancer Treatment Reviews. 40 (8): 942–50. doi:10.1016/j.ctrv.2014.06.002. PMID   24998489.
  8. 1 2 Pasquier E, Kavallaris M, André N (August 2010). "Metronomic chemotherapy: new rationale for new directions". Nature Reviews. Clinical Oncology. 7 (8): 455–65. doi:10.1038/nrclinonc.2010.82. PMID   20531380. S2CID   3349305.
  9. 1 2 Fior R (2019), "Cancer - when Cells Break the Rules and Hijack Their Own Planet", Molecular and Cell Biology of Cancer, Learning Materials in Biosciences, Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–20, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-11812-9_1, ISBN   978-3-030-11811-2
  10. Scharovsky OG, Mainetti LE, Rozados VR (March 2009). "Metronomic chemotherapy: changing the paradigm that more is better". Current Oncology. 16 (2): 7–15. doi:10.3747/co.v16i2.420. PMC   2669231 . PMID   19370174.
  11. Kareva I, Waxman DJ, Lakka Klement G (March 2015). "Metronomic chemotherapy: an attractive alternative to maximum tolerated dose therapy that can activate anti-tumor immunity and minimize therapeutic resistance". Cancer Letters. 358 (2): 100–106. doi:10.1016/j.canlet.2014.12.039. PMC   4666022 . PMID   25541061.
  12. Hao YB, Yi SY, Ruan J, Zhao L, Nan KJ (November 2014). "New insights into metronomic chemotherapy-induced immunoregulation". Cancer Letters. 354 (2): 220–6. doi:10.1016/j.canlet.2014.08.028. PMID   25168479.
  13. Foor F, Janssen KA, Magasanik B (December 1975). "Regulation of synthesis of glutamine synthetase by adenylylated glutamine synthetase". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 72 (12): 4844–8. Bibcode:1975PNAS...72.4844F. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.12.4844 . PMC   388828 . PMID   1744.
  14. Banys-Paluchowski M, Schütz F, Ruckhäberle E, Krawczyk N, Fehm T (May 2016). "Metronomic Chemotherapy for Metastatic Breast Cancer - a Systematic Review of the Literature". Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde. 76 (5): 525–534. doi:10.1055/s-0042-105871. PMC   4873299 . PMID   27239061.
  15. Orecchioni S, Talarico G, Labanca V, Mancuso P, Bertolini F (2017-07-01). "Abstract 2620: Selecting the right chemotherapy partner for checkpoint inhibitors: an in vivo comparison of different drugs and dosages". Cancer Research. 77 (13 Supplement): 2620. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2620. ISSN   0008-5472.
  16. Damber JE, Aus G (May 2008). "Prostate cancer". Lancet. 371 (9625): 1710–21. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60729-1. PMID   18486743. S2CID   25673260.
  17. Petrylak DP, Tangen CM, Hussain MH, Lara PN, Jones JA, Taplin ME, Burch PA, Berry D, Moinpour C, Kohli M, Benson MC, Small EJ, Raghavan D, Crawford ED (October 2004). "Docetaxel and estramustine compared with mitoxantrone and prednisone for advanced refractory prostate cancer". The New England Journal of Medicine. 351 (15): 1513–20. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa041318 . PMID   15470214.
  18. Manni R, Terzaghi M, Zambrelli E (Feb 2007). "S30.C REM parasomnia and epilepsy". Sleep Medicine. 8: S35–S36. doi:10.1016/s1389-9457(07)70135-1. ISSN   1389-9457.
  19. Shelley M, Harrison C, Coles B, Staffurth J, Wilt TJ, Mason MD (May 2007). "Chemotherapie bij hormoonrefractair prostaatcarcinoom". Huisarts en Wetenschap. 50 (5): 361–362. doi:10.1007/bf03085169. ISSN   0018-7070. S2CID   189770369.
  20. 1 2 Vora N, Reckamp KL (December 2008). "Non-small cell lung cancer in the elderly: defining treatment options". Seminars in Oncology. 35 (6): 590–6. doi:10.1053/j.seminoncol.2008.08.009. PMC   2701401 . PMID   19027463.
  21. Orecchioni S, Talarico G, Labanca V, Calleri A, Mancuso P, Bertolini F (May 2018). "Vinorelbine, cyclophosphamide and 5-FU effects on the circulating and intratumoural landscape of immune cells improve anti-PD-L1 efficacy in preclinical models of breast cancer and lymphoma". British Journal of Cancer. 118 (10): 1329–1336. doi:10.1038/s41416-018-0076-z. PMC   5959935 . PMID   29695766.
  22. Perroud HA, Alasino CM, Rico MJ, Queralt F, Pezzotto SM, Rozados VR, Scharovsky OG (May 2016). "Quality of life in patients with metastatic breast cancer treated with metronomic chemotherapy". Future Oncology. 12 (10): 1233–42. doi:10.2217/fon-2016-0075. PMC   4976839 . PMID   26948919.
  23. Perroud HA, Scharovsky OG, Rozados VR, Alasino CM (2017-02-28). "Clinical response in patients with ovarian cancer treated with metronomic chemotherapy". ecancermedicalscience. 11: 723. doi:10.3332/ecancer.2017.723. PMC   5336390 . PMID   28275392.
  24. Samaritani R, Corrado G, Vizza E, Sbiroli C (April 2007). "Cyclophosphamide "metronomic" chemotherapy for palliative treatment of a young patient with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer". BMC Cancer. 7 (1): 65. doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-7-65 . PMC   1863429 . PMID   17433113.
  25. Steliarova-Foucher E, Colombet M, Ries LA, Moreno F, Dolya A, Bray F, et al. (June 2017). "International incidence of childhood cancer, 2001-10: a population-based registry study". The Lancet. Oncology. 18 (6): 719–731. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(17)30186-9. PMC   5461370 . PMID   28410997.
  26. Allemani C, Weir HK, Carreira H, Harewood R, Spika D, Wang XS, et al. (March 2015). "Global surveillance of cancer survival 1995-2009: analysis of individual data for 25,676,887 patients from 279 population-based registries in 67 countries (CONCORD-2)". Lancet. 385 (9972): 977–1010. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)62038-9. PMC   4588097 . PMID   25467588.
  27. Andre N, Cointe S, Barlogis V, Arnaud L, Lacroix R, Pasquier E, et al. (September 2015). "Maintenance chemotherapy in children with ALL exerts metronomic-like thrombospondin-1 associated anti-endothelial effect". Oncotarget. 6 (26): 23008–14. doi:10.18632/oncotarget.3984. PMC   4673217 . PMID   26284583.
  28. 1 2 3 Revon-Rivière G, Banavali S, Heississen L, Gomez Garcia W, Abdolkarimi B, Vaithilingum M, et al. (July 2019). "Metronomic Chemotherapy for Children in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Survey of Current Practices and Opinions of Pediatric Oncologists". Journal of Global Oncology. 5 (5): 1–8. doi:10.1200/JGO.18.00244. PMC   6613668 . PMID   31260397.
  29. 1 2 3 Lassaletta A, Scheinemann K, Zelcer SM, Hukin J, Wilson BA, Jabado N, et al. (October 2016). "Phase II Weekly Vinblastine for Chemotherapy-Naïve Children With Progressive Low-Grade Glioma: A Canadian Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium Study". Journal of Clinical Oncology. 34 (29): 3537–3543. doi:10.1200/JCO.2016.68.1585. PMID   27573663.
  30. 1 2 Cramarossa G, Lee EK, Sivanathan L, Georgsdottir S, Lien K, Santos KD, et al. (July 2014). "A systematic literature analysis of correlative studies in low-dose metronomic chemotherapy trials". Biomarkers in Medicine. 8 (6): 893–911. doi:10.2217/bmm.14.14. PMID   25224945.
  31. 1 2 Rajasekaran T, Ng QS, Tan DS, Lim WT, Ang MK, Toh CK, et al. (March 2017). "Metronomic chemotherapy: A relook at its basis and rationale". Cancer Letters. 388: 328–333. doi:10.1016/j.canlet.2016.12.013. PMID   28003122.
  32. 1 2 Hanahan D, Bergers G, Bergsland E (April 2000). "Less is more, regularly: metronomic dosing of cytotoxic drugs can target tumor angiogenesis in mice". The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 105 (8): 1045–7. doi:10.1172/jci9872. PMC   300842 . PMID   10772648.
  33. Klement G, Baruchel S, Rak J, Man S, Clark K, Hicklin DJ, et al. (April 2000). "Continuous low-dose therapy with vinblastine and VEGF receptor-2 antibody induces sustained tumor regression without overt toxicity". The Journal of Clinical Investigation. American Society for Clinical Investigation. 105 (8): R15-24. doi:10.1172/JCI8829. OCLC   679853775. PMC   517491 . PMID   10772661.
  34. Browder T, Butterfield CE, Kräling BM, Shi B, Marshall B, O'Reilly MS, Folkman J (April 2000). "Antiangiogenic scheduling of chemotherapy improves efficacy against experimental drug-resistant cancer". Cancer Research. 60 (7): 1878–86. PMID   10766175.