Despite the incidence for women older than 70 years being 33%, they are usually excluded from screening schedules and clinical trials. Furthermore, about 15% of breast cancers in older patients are of the triple-negative subtype (TNBC), which is known to be an aggressive histological subtype with very limited treatment options available, and associated with a very poor prognosis [1]. Indeed, th...

One of the most significant developments in medical oncology practice has been the approval of various antiangiogenic drugs for the treatment of a number of different malignancies. These drugs include bevacizumab (Avastin), the anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody. Thus far, bevacizumab appears to induce clinical benefit in patients who have advanced metastatic disease only or primarily when it is com...

There is growing evidence that vasculogenesis (progenitor cell-derived generation of new blood vessels) is required for the growth of some neoplastic diseases. Here we show that the administration of cyclophosphamide (CTX) at the maximum tolerable dose with 21-day breaks or at more frequent low-dose (metronomic) schedules have opposite effects on the mobilization and viability of circulating en...

BACKGROUND Meningeal carcinomatosis is a rare complication in breast cancer patients. At present, there are no defined guidelines for its management. The efficacy of systemic treatment seems to depend on its ability to cross the blood-brain-barrier and its interaction with tumor vasculature. Metronomic chemotherapy is a known modality of drug administration able to inhibit tumor angiogenesis. C...

The prodrug capecitabine (Xeloda) has been an important drug for treatment for gastrointestinal cancer (GI-cancer). This study explores the efficacy of continuous metronomic Xeloda, as well as tolerability and best response during treatment. Patients (n=35) with stage IV GI-cancer were included in the study and were divided into two groups; upper (n=13) and lower (n=22) GI-cancer. All patients ...

The ability of metronomic chemotherapy to induce endothelial apoptosis has been traced to increased endothelial expression of thrombospondin-1, which activates endothelial CD36 receptors, triggering the extrinsic apoptotic pathway. Endothelial expression of CD36 is variable. Recent studies show that PPAR gamma agonists - previously shown to have angiostatic activity - can markedly boost endothe...

BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly vascular tumor which is poorly responsive to standard systemic chemotherapy. Recently, various antiangiogenic targeted agents have shown promising activity at different levels of evidence in patients with advanced HCC, suggesting that such treatments might be effective. CASE REPORT Since chemotherapy administered with metronomic schedules ...

Bcl-2 is an antiapoptotic protein that has also been found to function as a proangiogenic signaling molecule. Improvements in antiangiogenic therapy can be engendered by metronomic dosing. Thus, we hypothesized that BH3-mimetic drugs that antagonize Bcl-2 family proteins may exert a greater efficacy when dosed metronomically. To examine this hypothesis, we employed AT101, an orally available an...

Metronomic chemotherapy has shown promising activity in numerous preclinical studies and also some phase II clinical studies involving various tumor types, and is currently undergoing phase III trial evaluation. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive histological subtype with limited treatment options and very poor prognosis following progression after standard chemotherapeutic r...

Current treatment of retinoblastoma involves using the maximum dose of chemotherapy that induces tumor control and is tolerated by patients. The impact of dose and schedule on the cytotoxicity of chemotherapy has not been studied. Our aim was to gain insight into the cytotoxic and antiangiogenic effect of the treatment scheme of chemotherapy used in retinoblastoma by means of different in vitro...