Metronomic (antiangiogenic) chemotherapy refers to a form of dose dense chemotherapy involving close regular, even daily,
administration of conventional chemotherapy drugs at relatively low doses over long periods in the absence of prolonged drug-free
periods. Anti-tumor efficacy, which in some cases can be remarkably effective in various experimental mouse models of cancer,
even in the absence of toxicity, is thought to be mediated mainly by antiangiogenic effects, either locally, by direct targeting
of activated/dividing endothelial cells in the angiogenic tumor neovasculature, or systemically, by effects on circulating
(bone marrow derived) endothelial progenitor cells (CEPs). However, additional mechanisms may also be involved, including
stimulation of the immune system by targeting regulatory T cells, and possibly also direct effects on tumor cells—which could
include the tumor stem cell(-like) subpopulation. Metronomic chemotherapy, because of its relatively nontoxic nature, is ideal
for combination therapy using various targeted biologic agents, especially antiangiogenic drugs. Other promising combinatorial
strategies include “doublet” metronomic chemotherapy using two different chemotherapy drugs, interspersing low-dose chemotherapy
with higher bolus dose (BD) injections of the same drug, or short-course maximum tolerated dose (MTD) chemotherapy followed
by long-term metronomic chemotherapy combined with a targeted biologic agent. Such combinations can sometimes have striking
preclinical anti-tumor effects, even in models involving large primary tumors or widespread high-volume metastatic disease.
A number of clinical trials and pilot studies testing various combinatorial metronomic chemotherapy regimens have been undertaken
which, in aggregate, appear to confirm encouraging clinical activity in certain advanced-stage cancers, with only modest or
minimal host toxicity being observed. Larger randomized phase III trials are thus warranted, especially considering some of
the potential advantages of metronomic chemotherapy. These include increased convenience when using oral chemotherapeutic
drugs, reduced costs when off-patent chemotherapeutic drugs are used, and reduced severity of toxic side effects. These features
make metronomic chemotherapy-type regimens ideal for adjuvant chemotherapy of early-stage cancers, an example of which is
long-term, nontoxic daily oral tegafur-uracil (UFT) (a 5-FU prodrug composed of uracil and tegafur) for treatment of early-stage
non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Keywords low-dose chemotherapy - tumor angiogenesis - antiangiogenic therapy - clinical trials - endothelial progenitor cells - VEGF - metastasis - breast cancer - ovarian cancer - cyclophosphamide.