Capecitabine 150 mg, 500 mg Suppliers & Bulk Manufacturers

Available Forms: Tablets

Available Strengths: 150 mg, 500 mg

Reference Brands: Xeloda (US/EU)

Category: Oncology Cancer Care

Capecitabine is used in the treatment of cancer of breast, colon and rectum. It may be also used to treat other conditions, as determined by the doctor.

Product Description:

Capecitabine is an oral prodrug of fluorouracil, designed to be activated preferentially inside tumour tissue. It passes through three enzymatic steps, the last performed by thymidine phosphorylase, which is present at higher concentrations in many tumours than in normal tissue — so the cytotoxic is generated where it is needed, and an infusion becomes a tablet.

It is used for colorectal cancer, adjuvant and metastatic, for breast cancer, and for gastric and oesophageal cancer, alone or with other agents. Oral dosing removes the need for infusion pumps and central lines, which changes what treatment costs a health system as well as what it costs a patient in time. Hand-foot syndrome is the characteristic toxicity, along with diarrhoea, stomatitis and myelosuppression. Patients with dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase deficiency cannot break fluorouracil down and suffer severe, sometimes fatal toxicity — DPD testing before treatment is now standard in several countries. It interacts dangerously with warfarin.

Sourcing notes. Off patent with wide generic supply and on essential medicines lists. Tablets are film-coated cytotoxics, so handling guidance is needed for patients and carers at home, not just in pharmacy.