Low-dose chemotherapy is being studied/used in the treatment of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

to avoid the

side effect In medicine, a side effect is an effect, whether therapeutic or adverse, that is secondary to the one intended; although the term is predominantly employed to describe adverse effects, it can also apply to beneficial, but unintended, consequence ...

s of conventional

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

. Historically,

oncologist Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

s have used the highest possible dose that the body can tolerate in order to kill as many cancer cells as possible. - study on mice in which human choriocarcinoma had been implanted After high-dose treatments, the body reacts, sometimes quite severely.

Infection An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

s from external causes become a leading threat of death.

Forms of low-dose chemotherapy

The following forms of low-dose chemotherapy have been proposed. They are not always widely available treatments at hospitals.

Oral low-dose chemotherapy

Patients are given chemotherapy drugs orally very frequently. This approach can be very effective for some cancers and can minimize side effects for some people. More patients are using oral chemotherapy than ever before.

Low-dose chemotherapy and antiangiogenesis

Adam Dicker, an associate professor at

Jefferson Medical College Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the univer ...

Thomas Jefferson University Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the univer ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in the United States, has written that chemotherapy is often used in the highest possible doses. They are rethinking chemotherapy because of the

antiangiogenic An angiogenesis inhibitor is a substance that inhibits the growth of new blood vessels ( angiogenesis). Some angiogenesis inhibitors are endogenous and a normal part of the body's control and others are obtained exogenously through pharmaceutical d ...

effects of low dose chemotherapy given on a more frequent basis than conventional chemotherapy. They have shown excellent antiangiogenic results in the laboratory.

Insulin potentiation therapy low-dose chemotherapy

Although yet to be proven, insulin potentiation therapy (IPT) proponents suggest that

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism o ...

modifies cancer cells receptivity to being penetrated by the chemotherapy. Cancer cells secrete their own insulin and

insulin-like growth factor The insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are proteins with high sequence similarity to insulin. IGFs are part of a complex system that cells use to communicate with their physiologic environment. This complex system (often referred to as the IGF "a ...

(IGF) which work together to consume the body's nutrients to grow cancer. Cancer

cell membrane The cell membrane (also known as the plasma membrane (PM) or cytoplasmic membrane, and historically referred to as the plasmalemma) is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of all cells from the outside environment ( ...

s have about sixteen times more insulin and IGF receptors than normal cells, and these receptors react with synthetic insulin. When insulin is administered, the cancer starves for

glucose Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, using ...

and generates

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...

activity that makes the cell membrane more permeable. The chemotherapy drug gets absorbed by the cancer. By using the very same mechanisms that cancer cells use to grow and kill people, proponents believe IPT channels the chemotherapy drug directly inside the cancer cells leaving normal cells alone.

Insulin therapy As a medication, insulin is any pharmaceutical preparation of the protein hormone insulin that is used to treat high blood glucose. Such conditions include type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes, and complications of diabetes s ...

is not the same as IPT low-dose chemotherapy. Insulin on its own modulates the transportation of nutrients and more throughout the body. There have been several attempts to use insulin in a variety functions that have proven ill-advised. In biological cancer therapies, an insulin potentiation therapy can be used to administer mandelonitrile (B17) as a pre step to an IPT low-dose Chemotherapy.

Research

There are many other researchers looking for low-dose chemotherapy treatments.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Low-Dose Chemotherapy Antineoplastic drugs Alternative medical treatments