5-fluorouracil: mechanisms of action and clinical strategies.

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Longley DB, Harkin DP, Johnston PG

5-fluorouracil: mechanisms of action and clinical strategies.

Nat Rev Cancer. 2003 May;3(5):330-8.

PubMed ID

12724731 [ View in PubMed

]

Abstract

5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is widely used in the treatment of cancer. Over the past 20 years, increased understanding of the mechanism of action of 5-FU has led to the development of strategies that increase its anticancer activity. Despite these advances, drug resistance remains a significant limitation to the clinical use of 5-FU. Emerging technologies, such as DNA microarray profiling, have the potential to identify novel genes that are involved in mediating resistance to 5-FU. Such target genes might prove to be therapeutically valuable as new targets for chemotherapy, or as predictive biomarkers of response to 5-FU-based chemotherapy.

DrugBank Data that Cites this Article

Drugs

Fluorouracil

Capecitabine

Drug Targets

Drug	Target	Kind	Organism	Pharmacological Action	Actions
Capecitabine	DNA	Nucleotide	Humans	Yes	Incorporation into and destabilization Inhibition of synthesis	Details
Capecitabine	RNA	Nucleotide	Humans	Yes	Incorporation into and destabilization	Details
Fluorouracil	DNA	Nucleotide	Humans	Yes	Incorporation into and destabilization	Details
Fluorouracil	RNA	Nucleotide	Humans	Yes	Incorporation into and destabilization	Details

Drug Reactions

Reaction
Capecitabine DB01101 Liver carboxylesterase 1 5’-Deoxy-5-fluorocytidine (5'-DFCR) DBMET03580	Details