Description
Metronomic chemotherapy: The Hype and the Science by Doug Thamn. The survival benefits of the conventional maximum tolerated dose (MTD) chemotherapy are modest for the treatment of many canine and feline cancers. In addition, conventional chemotherapy may induce significant acute and chronic toxicities. Recent mouse studies suggest that metronomic chemotherapy, which is defined as the uninterrupted administration of low doses of cytotoxic drugs at regular and frequent intervals, could be at least as effective as MTD therapy and associated with substantially less toxicity and expense. In comparison to conventional MTD chemotherapy, the critical difference of metronomic therapy appears to be the elimination of long break periods between treatments. Elimination of treatment gaps also eliminates or at least substantially reduces, the ability of tumour cells to undergo repopulation and damage repair and to alter their micro environment. This hour will discuss what is known and unknown about the clinical application of metronomic chemotherapy in canine and feline cancer. Dr Thamm is also a member of the Developmental Therapeutics Section of the University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Program at Colorado State University. Dr Thamm received his Bachelor’s and VMD degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed an Oncology Residency at the University of Wisconsin and was a researcher there for 5 additional years before joining the faculty at CSU in 2004. He has authored over 120 peer-reviewed publications and 20 book chapters in veterinary and basic cancer research, was Oncology Section Editor for the 2 most recent editions of Kirk’s Current Veterinary Therapy and is Co-Editor-In-Chief of the journal Veterinary and Comparative Oncology. His clinical and research interests include novel targeted therapies for animal and human cancer and ways to integrate these therapies into existing treatment.