TITLE:
Three Protocols Designed to Individualize and Maximize Anti-Cancer Drug Therapy
AUTHORS:
Arthur J. Weiss, Irwin L. Stoloff
KEYWORDS:
Dosage, Intensification, Doxorubicin, Ifosphamide, Vinorelbine, Schedule, Modification
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Cancer Therapy,
Vol.6 No.12,
November
30,
2015
ABSTRACT: The role that attaining maximum drug dosage intensity plays in many anti-cancer
protocols is a major one, particularly in those protocols that attempt to
totally eradicate the neoplasm. A classic approach to facilitate this process
utilizes stem cell transplants as well as the use of hematopoetic growth
factors. However, problems arise with both allogenic and autologous transplants
as well as from the significant variability in drug tolerance between
individual patients. With average fixed dose protocols, these problems
substantially limit the ability to optimize drug dosage. We attempted to
circumvent this difficulty by using low dose continuous infusional therapy of
variable duration depending upon the patient’s response, together with
simultaneous hematopoietic growth factor support. This paper presents our results with three drugs, doxorubicin, ifosphamide,
and vinorelbine. With these protocols, we were able to individualize and
optimize the amount of drug delivered to each patient, as well as to
substantially increase the drug dosage intensity of each of these agents.