Investigation of the lipid profiles in patients taking capecitabine

Capecitabine is a prodrug of 5-fluorouracil and has shown significant antitumor activity breast cancer and advanced colorectal carcinoma. The main drug-related adverse effects are palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia (hand-foot syndrome), diarrhea and stomatitis. Dyslipidemia is a rare but important side effect of this drug. In this retrospective study, analysis of lipid metabolism after capecitabine treatment and contribution to the formation pharmacoepidemiological database are intended to provide perspective. For this purpose, in 57 patients treated with capecitabine at Cukurova University Faculty of Medicine Oncology Department, before and after five cycles of treatment, triglyceride, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, ALT, AST, ALP, MCV, B12, Hb and folate blood levels were examined. As a result of this study, triglyceride, cholesterol and MCV blood levels were significantly increased after capecitabine treatment. The increament in triglyceride levels were higher than increament in cholesterol levels. The other parameters were not significantly changed compared to the control levels. In the light of these findings, hypertriglyceridemia has serious acute and chronic metabolic complications and patients receiving capecitabine therapy should be underwent regular monitoring of lipid levels.