Maintenance therapy sometimes relies on the use of metronomic chemotherapy (MC); that is, the continuous administration of low-dose chemotherapy. Maintenance therapy has been successfully used for decades in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and recent results have demonstrated improved outcomes in patients with pediatric high-risk rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) on maintenance therapy. Here, we review the use of metronomic maintenance therapy in pediatric cancer and discuss its mechanisms of action on the tumor microenvironment and cancer cells. We also discuss its potential use as a chemotherapy alone or in combination with targeted therapies, immunotherapies, or agents for drug repurposing.

维持治疗有时依赖于节拍性化疗（MC）的使用；即持续给予小剂量化疗。几十年来，维持治疗已成功用于急性淋巴细胞白血病 (ALL) 儿科患者，最近的结果表明，维持治疗可改善儿科高危横纹肌肉瘤 (RMS) 患者的预后。在这里，我们回顾了节拍器维持疗法在儿科癌症中的应用，并讨论了其对肿瘤微环境和癌细胞的作用机制。我们还讨论了其作为单独化疗或与靶向疗法、免疫疗法或药物再利用药物联合使用的潜在用途。