Ricerc@Sapienza

Metronomic-chemotherapy (M-CHT) has been rarely assessed in non-Hodgkin-lymphoma (NHL). Therefore, in 2011 we started experimenting a new all-oral M-CHT schedule termed DEVEC (Deltacortene®, etoposide, vinorelbine, cyclophosphamide, +/-Rituximab) in diffuse-large-B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients. Methods Patients with stage Ib-IV were enrolled as follows: 1) treatment-naïve, frail ≥65y, or unfit ≥85y; and 2) relapsed/refractory (R/R) ≥55y.

Standard chemotherapy scheduling requires the administration of maximum tolerated doses of anticancer drugs to reach a good therapeutic efficacy and is often responsible for various side effects and chemoresistance development. A metronomic chemotherapy, based on the repeated administration and/or continuous infusion of low doses of the anticancer drug, has been proposed as an alternative strategy to the standard protocol, due to its more favourable pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles.