Fluorouracil (5-FU)

General information

Class/mechanism: Pyrimidine analog, antimetabolite, inhibitor of thymidylate synthase. Metabolized to 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine monophosphate (FdUMP) and 5-fluorouridine triphosphate (FUTP). FdUMP inhibits DNA synthesis by binding to thymidylate synthase and inhibiting production of thymidylate; FUTP interferes with RNA processing when it is mistakenly incorporated in place of uridine triphosphate (UTP). .
Route: IV
Extravasation: irritant

For conciseness and simplicity, HemOnc.org currently will focus on treatment regimens and not list information such as: renal/hepatic dose adjustments, metabolism (including CYP450), excretion, monitoring parameters (although this will be considered for checklists), or manufacturer. Instead, for the most current information, please refer to your preferred pharmacopeias such as Micromedex, Lexicomp, UpToDate (courtesy of Lexicomp), or the prescribing information.

Diseases for which it is used

• Anal cancer
• Bladder cancer
• Breast cancer
• Cervical cancer
• Colon cancer
• Esophageal cancer
• Gastric cancer
• Head and neck cancer
• Hepatobiliary cancer
• Neuroendocrine tumors
• Pancreatic cancer
• Penile cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Rectal cancer
• Unknown primary

Patient drug information

• Fluorouracil (5-FU) patient drug information (Chemocare)
• Fluorouracil (5-FU) patient drug information (UpToDate)

History of changes in FDA indication

• 4/25/1962: Initial FDA approval

Also known as

Synonyms
5 Fluorouracil	5 FU	5 FU Kyowa Hakko	5 FU Meiji	5 FU Orca	5-fluoracilo	5-fluorouracilo	5-fluorouracyl-knoll
5-FU Kyowa	5-FU Medac	Accusite	Actino Hermal	Adrucil	Arumel	Benton	Biofur
Carac	Carebin	Carzonal	Cinco-FU	Cinkef-U	Curacil	Effcil	Efudex
Efurix	Ezadex	Fauldfluor	Fivocil	Fivoflu	Flacule	Flonida	Florac
Flourouracil	Fluhomer	Fluolex	Fluor-Uracil	Fluoro-Uracile ICN	Fluoro-Uracil ICN	Fluoroplex	Fluorouracil
Fluorouracil-GRY	Fluorouracil 5 FU	Fluorouracil Abic	Fluorouracil Bigmar	Fluorouracil CO	Fluorouracil DBL	Fluorouracile	Fluorouracile Dakota
Fluorouracil Faulding	Fluorouracil Mayne	Fluorouracil Mayne Pharma ( BEN )	Fluorouracilo	Fluorouracilo Filaxis	Fluorouracilo Martian	Fluorouracilo Rontag	Fluorouracil Pliva
Fluorouracil Roche	Fluorouracil Sanofi-Synthelabo	Fluorouracil Sodium	Fluorouracil Till	Fluorourcil	Fluoruracilo	Fluoxan	Flurablastin
Flurac	Fluracedyl	Fluracil	Fluroblastin	Fluroblastine	Ftoruracil	Ftouracil	FU
FU Kyorin	FU MI TE	FU Schering	Haemato-FU	Ifacil	Kang Ning	Kecimeton Tatumi	Killit
LA FU	Lunachol DS Sawai	Lunachol Yoshitomi	Lunapon	Natira U	Neofluor	O Fluor	Oncofu
Onkofluor	Pentafu	Pharmauracil	Phthoruracil	Phtoruracil	Ribofluor	Rotianin	Sanc F D
Satelol	Seco Uracil	Tecflu	Timadin	Timadin Dry	Trav Fluorouracil	Triosules	Uflahex
Ulosagen	Ulup Maruko	Ulup Mitsubishi	Uraciflor	Utoral	Vaflu	Vafu	Zhongren FU AN