Dario Trapani, Medical Oncologist at IEO European Institute of Oncology, shared on LinkedIn:
”Rethinking Cytoprotection in Oncology: the Return of Cyclotherapy to improve efficacy and safety of cancer treatments.
The major limitation of traditional chemotherapy is its lack of selectivity:
- it targets both cancer cells and healthy, rapidly dividing cells, resulting in dose-limiting toxicities.
What if we could temporarily “shield” healthy tissues?
An insightful work by Dr Izzo and Marsicano from Università degli Studi di Milano Fellowship Program of MedicalOncology revisits cyclotherapy, as a strategy first conceptualized in the early 2000s and now rapidly evolving.
- How does it work?
The approach uses short-acting agents (e.g., CDK4/6 inhibitors like trilaciclib) to transiently arrest normal cells in a specific phase of the cell cycle, shielding them before administering a phase-specific cytotoxic drug. Meanwhile, tumor cells, often with defective checkpoints, remain vulnerable.
Here we propose a mechanistic framework:
- Success relies on three critical determinants:
- tumor sensitivity to the protective agent
- the cell-cycle dependency of toxicities
- the phase specificity of the partnered drug.
Cyclotherapy is not a failed hypothesis, but an evolving paradigm requiring biological stratification and temporal optimization to expand the therapeutic window in modern oncology.
The management of adverseevents is shifting from a reactive approach to advanced ‘chronopharmacological’ strategy.”
Other articles about cancer types on OncoDaily.