Effect of grapefruit juice intake on etoposide bioavailability.

Purpose: Oral administration of etoposide is limited by the high degree of unpredictable variation in systemic availability. This pilot study was conducted to evaluate the potential of pretreatment with grapefruit juice for improving the use of oral etoposide.

Methods: In a randomized crossover study, six patients were sequentially treated with 50 mg IV etoposide over 1 h, 50 mg orally, or 50 mg orally post grapefruit juice on day 1, day 4, and day 8.