Our lastest article entitled Maintenance chemotherapy in children with ALL exerts metronomic-like thrombospondin-1 associated anti-endothelial effect has just been published in Oncotarget.

This study has been performed the Service d’Hématologie et Oncologie Pédiatrique, Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire Timone Enfants and the Laboratoire d’Hématologie, Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire Conception, AP-HM, Marseille, France in collaboration with the Aix-Marseille Université, INSERM, CRO2 UMRS-911 in Marseille, France and MGHI.

We monitored circulating endothelial cells (CEC), endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) and endothelial microparticles (EMP), pro-angiogenic factors (VEGF, VEGFR-1 and Ang-2), anti-angiogenic factor thrombospondin-1 (THBS1) and regulatory T lymphocytes (Treg) in 47 children with ALL during the maintenance phase of their treatment (at treatment initiation and after 6, 12 and 18 months). We observed a statistically significant decrease in EPC and EMP counts throughout the maintenance phase associated with a significant increase in THBS1 levels. No significant change was detected in other angiogenic markers or in Treg numbers.

The results presented here indicate that maintenance treatment in children with ALL not only pharmacologically but also mechanistically represents a form of metronomic treatment, acting at least in part by decreasing endothelium activity. Larger studies are mandatory to confirm these effects and evaluate their clinical implications. These studies may lead to the identification of novel biomarkers and pave the way to strengthen the antiangiogenic effect of maintenance therapy.

You can read the full text of the paper freely here