A retrospective analysis of plasma concentration monitoring of fluorouracil in patients with advanced colorectal cancer

Objectives To analyse the results of fluorouracil (5-FU) plasma concentration monitoring in patients with advanced colorectal cancer after 5-FU treatment, and to provide a reference for the application prospect of 5-FU plasma concentration monitoring technology. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed with advanced colorectal cancer patients treated with 5-FU from March 2015 to August 2018. The results of plasma concentration monitoring of 5-FU, severe adverse reactions, and anti-tumour efficacy were analysed. Results Among 47 patients, 5-FU plasma concentration monitoring was carried out a total of 289 times. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) reflecting 5-FU exposure in vivo was 2.8-158 mg*h/L (4194.6 mg*h/L). Mean AUC range within the target range (20-30 mg*h/L) for each patient was observed in 28.8% of patients. The overall incidence of related severe adverse reactions in the AUC <= 30 mg*h/L group was lower than that in the >30 mg*h/L group (24.0% and 50.0%, respectively) (p=0.06), and the incidence of severe neutropenia was 12.0% and 40.9%, respectively (p=0.05). The disease control rate and overall response rate of the AUC <20 mg*h/L group was lower than that of the 20 mg*h/L group: 83.3% vs 97.1% (p=0.19) and 25.0% vs 51.4% (p = 0.10), respectively. Conclusions The 5-FU plasma concentration monitoring technique can improve the safety and efficacy of 5-FU administration to advanced colorectal cancer patients. It is expected to become an important means to individualise 5-FU use in the Chinese population.