Capecitabine-induced enterocolitis: a case report and pharmacogenetic profile

Capecitabine is a widely-used antineoplastic drug, a prodrug to 5-fluorouracil which commonly induces gastrointestinal toxicity. Enterocolitis, as a rarely recognized gastrointestinal adverse effect (AE) of capecitabine, is potentially severe and usually results in antitumor treatment withdrawal. For the better management of severe AEs, pharmacogenetics is one promising field. Herein, we describe a case of capecitabine-induced enterocolitis presenting with severe diarrhea in order to improve recognition by clinicians. Moreover, we conduct a pharmacogenetic profile of the patient and review the current studies of gene polymorphisms of 5-fluorouracil-related diarrhea, hoping to offer a reference for further clinical pharmacogenetic practice in predicting capecitabine AEs showing diarrhea as the main symptom.