Study: Enzyme Levels May Aid in Predicting Success of 5-FU Chemotherapy

German researchers report that the levels of two enzymes may help predict the prognosis for colorectal cancer patients being treated with the chemotherapy drug 5-Fluoruracil (5-FU).

Marko Kornmann of the University of Ulm reported in the journal Clinical Cancer Research that researchers measured the levels of thymidylate synthase (TS) and dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) in cancer tissue from 309 colorectal cancer patients being treated with 5-FU.

The enzyme DPD has been found in previous studies to play a role in the breakdown 5-FU, thereby limiting its effectiveness.

"Among the patients receiving adjuvant 5-FU therapy, those with high TS survived longer than those with low TS, and in each TS subgroup, the ones with low DPD survived longer than the ones with high DPD levels," the researchers reported.

The researchers said the findings suggest that TS and DPD levels may help in evaluating which patients are most likely to benefit from 5-FU therapy, and may also aid in the evaluating the prognosis of patients being treated with 5-FU.

Other sources: Clinical Cancer Research