Metronomic Maintenance for High-Risk Pediatric Malignancies: One Size Will Not Fit All

Abstract

Maintenance therapy sometimes relies on the use of metronomic chemotherapy (MC); that is, the continuous administration of low-dose chemotherapy. Maintenance therapy has been successfully used for decades in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and recent results have demonstrated improved outcomes in patients with pediatric high-risk rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) on maintenance therapy. Here, we review the use of metronomic maintenance therapy in pediatric cancer and discuss its mechanisms of action on the tumor microenvironment and cancer cells. We also discuss its potential use as a chemotherapy alone or in combination with targeted therapies, immunotherapies, or agents for drug repurposing.

Keywords: angiogenesis; chemotherapy; immunity; maintenance; metronomic; microenvironment; pediatric oncology; rhabdomyosarcoma.