The concept of dose intensification in the treatment of neoplastic disease

This paper summarizes different theoretical and clinical approaches contributing to the concept of dose intensification. According to this concept, the amount of antineoplastic drug delivered per time predominantly determines the clinical outcome in patients with neoplastic disease. With the availability of recombinant haemopoietic growth factors haematotoxic side effects might be reduced, making this concept more feasible for clinical use. However, more prospective randomized studies, in which dose-intensity is the only treatment variable, are needed to prove that dose intensification will lead to higher survival rates.