Low-dose Chemotherapy Protocol Relies on Normalization of Tumor Blood Supply

Low-dose Chemotherapy Protocol Relies on Normalization of Tumor Blood Supply – an article from Massachusetts General Hospital.

If you search metronomic chemotherapy at clinicaltrials.gov, you will find at least 178 citations. While most oncologists will tell you that either low dose chemotherapy does not work, or that there has not been a randomized trial comparing standard of care to low dose metronomic, this concept is attracting plenty of attention from the academicians.

While cytotoxic chemotherapy works only through direct killing of cancer cells (and normal cells), low dose metronomic chemotherapy targets tumor vasculature, improves the host anti-cancer immune response, improves blood supply to the tumor (thereby increasing chemotherapy delivery to the tumor, as well as oxygen delivery, which then turns off HIF-1 alpha), and improves the tumor stroma to favor a host anti-tumor response.

Unfortunately, one size never fits all, so even low dose metronomic chemotherapy needs to be altered (dose and frequency) according to tumor response. The data continues to mount, and in the near-future, maximum tolerated dose chemotherapy, in the treatment of solid tumors, will no longer be the norm.