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Encyclopedia of Cancer pp 1–3Cite as

Metronomic Chemotherapy

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Synonyms/Acronyms

Anti-angiogenic chemotherapy; Metronomic scheduling; MSAT – metronomic scheduling of anticancer treatment; Protracted low-dose chemotherapy

Definition

Metronomic chemotherapy was originally defined as the chronic administration of chemotherapeutic drugs at relatively low, minimally toxic doses and with no prolonged drug-free breaks. It is by essence opposed to conventional chemotherapy, which is based on the administration of chemotherapy drugs slightly below or at the maximum-tolerated dose every 2 or 3 weeks.

Characteristics

Origin

Given the high sensitivity of vascular endothelial cells to chemotherapeutic drugs, it was hypothesized that more frequent administration of these drugs at lower doses would result in a potent inhibition of tumor angiogenesis and would prevent the rapid vascular rebound that often occurs during prolonged drug-free breaks following conventional chemotherapy. This gave rise to the concept of anti-angiogenic chemotherapy, which was then...

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References

  • André N, Banavali S, Snihur Y, Pasquier E (2013) Has the time come for metronomics in low-income and middle-income countries? Lancet Oncol 14:e239–e248

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  • André N, Carré M, Pasquier E (2014) Metronomics: towards personalized chemotherapy? Nat Rev Clin Oncol 11:413–431

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  • Browder T, Butterfield CE, Kräling BM, Shi B, Marshall B, O’Reilly MS, Folkman J (2000) Antiangiogenic scheduling of chemotherapy improves efficacy against experimental drug-resistant cancer. Cancer Res 60:1878–1886

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  • Hanahan D, Bergers G, Bergsland E (2000) Less is more, regularly: metronomic dosing of cytotoxic drugs can target tumor angiogenesis in mice. J Clin Investig 105:1045–1047

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  • Klement G, Baruchel S, Rak J, Man S, Clark K, Hicklin DJ, Bohlen P, Kerbel RS (2000) Continuous low-dose therapy with vinblastine and VEGF receptor-2 antibody induces sustained tumor regression without overt toxicity. J Clin Investig 105:R15–R24

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Further Reading

  • (2012) Maintenance chemotherapy. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin, p 2137. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_6974

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  • (2012) Maximum tolerated dose. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin, p 2188. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3567

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  • (2012) Palliative care. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 2759. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_4351

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  • (2012) Tumor-associated angiogenesis. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin, p 3807. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_6016

    Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Research in Oncobiology and Oncopharmacology, INSERM U911, 27 Bd Jean Moulin, 13005, Marseille, France

    Eddy Pasquier & Nicolas André

  2. Metronomics Global Health Initiative, Marseille, France

    Eddy Pasquier & Nicolas André

  3. Children’s Cancer Institute, Randwick, Australia

    Eddy Pasquier

  4. Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, La Timone Children’s Hospital, Marseille, France

    Nicolas André

Authors
  1. Eddy Pasquier
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  2. Nicolas André
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eddy Pasquier .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Pasquier, E., André, N. (2014). Metronomic Chemotherapy. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_6973-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_6973-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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