「節拍式化療」是指化療藥物以低劑量（約1/10 ~ 1/3 最大耐受劑量）、定時不停歇的給藥，利用穩定的血中濃度達到控制腫瘤的效果，同時也降低了藥物不良反應。節拍式化療藉由抑制腫瘤血管新生、啟動免疫系統對腫瘤的監控，以及降低腫瘤基質的活化，來影響腫瘤細胞及腫瘤微環境，將腫瘤控制在「休眠」的狀態。現今癌症的治療模式正慢慢朝向「慢性病」的方向發展，節拍式化療在某些癌症病人可達到與正規輔助化療相近的療效；對於一些標準治療完成後的病人，維持低劑量的節拍式化療可延緩疾病惡化；節拍式化療應用在晚期癌症病人，有機會讓症狀得到緩解，比較能顧及病人生活品質而成為另類的癌症治療策略，其治療方式可以是單獨或合併2 種以上的化療藥物，或者結合某些具有抗血管新生特性的藥物、標靶藥物及荷爾蒙藥物等等。在諸如乳癌、轉移性大腸直腸癌與非小細胞肺癌等已漸漸有相關的臨床試驗，其結果顯示節拍式化療具有一定的成效或安全性。

Metronomic chemotherapy means repeated administration with no prolonged drug-free intervals of conventional chemotherapeutic agents at very low dose (one tenth to one third of the maximum tolerated dose [MTD]). This new modality of drug administration stabilizes blood drug concentration to achieve better anti-neoplastic effects yet minimize adverse drug reactions. It inhibits tumor growth and modulates tumor microenvironment by reducing angiogenesis and stromal activation, and boosting anti-neoplastic immune-surveillance. In effect, metronomic chemotherapy induces tumor dormancy. Cancer treatment is gradually moving towards a chronic disease treatment model. Metronomic dosing strategy has been increasing adopted for a variety of tumors, such as delay time to disease progression, relieve symptoms, and improve quality of life. Metronomic schedules can be applied to single or combination of cytotoxic, antiangiogenic, agents for target therapy, and hormones. In this article, we review current studies applying metronomic chemotherapy on breast cancer, metastatic colorectal cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer according to the clinical settings of patients.