fluorouracil + gemcitabine

Fluorouracil + gemcitabine is a cytotoxic chemotherapy combination of the antimetabolites 5-fluorouracil and gemcitabine, used primarily for the treatment of advanced or metastatic solid tumors such as pancreatic adenocarcinoma. 5-fluorouracil is a fluoropyrimidine analog that is converted intracellularly to metabolites that inhibit thymidylate synthase and are misincorporated into RNA and DNA, thereby disrupting nucleic acid synthesis and function. Gemcitabine is a deoxycytidine analog that undergoes phosphorylation to active diphosphate and triphosphate forms, which inhibit ribonucleotide reductase and are incorporated into DNA, causing masked chain termination and inhibition of DNA synthesis. The combination exploits complementary interference with DNA synthesis and repair, has demonstrated clinical activity and acceptable toxicity in advanced pancreatic cancer, and is generally administered by intravenous infusion in multi-day cycles as part of combination chemotherapy regimens.

Other names

5-fluorouracil + gemcitabine5-FU + gemcitabinefluorouracil + GEMGEM + 5-fluorouracil