Use

The dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase gene (DPYD) produces a drug-metabolizing enzyme, dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), which is involved in the metabolism of several clinically important drugs including the fluoropyrimidines 5-fluorouracil and capecitabine, which are frequently used as chemotherapeutic drugs. Individuals with some variant DPYD alleles are at increased risk for side effects from drugs that are metabolized by DPD. DPYD genotype information can be utilized to predict DPD metabolic activity, which can be used as an aid in determining a therapeutic strategy for drugs that are metabolized by DPD. For example, DPD eliminates over 80% of the drug 5-fluoracil. An intermediate or poor metabolizer may be subjected to a buildup of 5-fluoracil, which can be associated with severe toxicity. Substantial evidence supports the use of DPYD genotyping for guiding fluoropyrimidine dosage/use.