Assessment for possible drug application delays in MCT strategy due to pathophysiological constraints of cancer

Abstract

Different analytical modelling showed that metronomic chemotherapeutic (MCT) strategy is a better option than maximum tolerable dosing (MTD) for the treatment of cancer under the condition of malignancy. In this work, a major physiological constraint, drug clearance rate has been considered. Incorporating it into analytical state-space models, the transformation of the overall system has been examined through computer simulations. Accumulation of drug, dead tumor cells and metabolites produced by living tumor cells in turn affect the subsequent drug application and thereby the therapeutic procedure and its outcome. Simulation results suggest that subsequent drug administration delay increases gradually with time due to this constraint.