SynthesisPloS one2017
The efficacy and toxicity profile of metronomic chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer: A meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- [Systemic treatment of breast cancer: professional guideline].Magyar onkologia · 2025Guideline
- Efficacy and Safety of Metronomic Capecitabine in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of gastrointestinal cancer · 2024Pooled it
- Systemic Treatment of Breast Cancer. 1st Central-Eastern European Professional Consensus Statement on Breast Cancer.Pathology oncology research : POR · 2022Pooled it
- A direct comparison of classical oral Navelbine vs metronomic Navelbine in metastatic breast cancer: results from the Danish Breast Cancer Group's (DBCG) NAME-trial.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2025Trial
- Phase II study of metronomic treatment with daily oral vinorelbine as first-line chemotherapy in patients with advanced/metastatic HR+/HER2- breast cancer resistant to endocrine therapy: VinoMetro-AGO-B-046.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2021Trial
- Article
- Real-World Efficacy of Metronomic Chemotherapy in Advanced Breast Cancer Across Molecular Subtypes.Cancer medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- The use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factors in the management of breast cancer patients.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Review
- Review
- Final results of the real-life observational VICTOR-6 study on metronomic chemotherapy in elderly metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients.Scientific reports · 2023Observational
- Capecitabine Plus Aromatase Inhibitor as First Line Therapy for Hormone Receptor Positive, HER2 Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2023Article
- Real-World Experience of Metronomic Chemotherapy in Metastatic Breast Cancer: Results of a Retrospective Unicenter Study.Breast care (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Nanoformulations-Based Metronomic Chemotherapy: Mechanism, Challenges, Recent Advances, and Future Perspectives.Pharmaceutics · 2023Review
- Anti-tumor effects of low-dose metronomic vinorelbine in combination with alpelisib in breast cancer cells.EXCLI journal · 2023Article
- Article
- Photoacoustic Tomography Detects Response and Resistance to Bevacizumab in Breast Cancer Mouse Models.Cancer research · 2022Article
- Quantification of long-term doxorubicin response dynamics in breast cancer cell lines to direct treatment schedules.PLoS computational biology · 2022Article
- Metronomic Chemotherapy.Cancers · 2021Review
- Metronomic vinorelbine is an excellent and safe treatment for advanced breast cancer: a retrospective, observational study.Journal of Cancer · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe current meta-analysis aimed to summarize the available evidence for the efficacy and serious adverse events (AEs) associated with use of metronomic chemotherapy (MCT) in patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC).
methodElectronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE database, Web of Knowledge, and the Cochrane database) were systematically searched for articles related to the use of MCT in MBC patients. Eligible studies included clinical trials of MBC patients treated with MCT that presented sufficient data related to tumor response, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and grade 3/4 AEs. A meta-analysis was performed using a random effects model.
resultsThis meta-analysis consists of 22 clinical trials with 1360 patients. The pooled objective response rate and clinical benefit rate of MCT were 34.1% (95% CI 27.4-41.5) and 55.6% (95% CI 49.2-61.9), respectively. The overall 6-month PFS, 12-month OS, and 24-month OS rates were 56.8% (95% CI 48.3-64.9), 70.3% (95% CI 62.6-76.9), and 40.0% (95% CI 30.6-50.2), respectively. The pooled incidence of grade 3/4 AEs was 29.5% (95% CI 21.1-39.5). There was no statistically significant difference observed in any endpoint between subgroups defined by concomitant anti-cancer therapies or chemotherapy regimens. After excluding one controversial study, we observed a trend showing lower toxicity rates with the use of MCT alone compared to use of MCT with other anti-cancer therapies (P = 0.070).
conclusionsMetronomic chemotherapy may be effective for use in patients with metastatic breast cancer. MCT used alone is possibly equally effective and less toxic than combination therapies. Well-designed RCTs are needed to obtain more evidence.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.