Augmentation of the antitumor activity of capecitabine by a tumor selective dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase inhibitor, RO0094889.

Capecitabine is an orally available fluoropyrimidine and is finally converted to 5-FU selectively in tumor tissues. In our study, we examined whether the antitumor activity of capecitabine is directly affected by a modulation of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD). The modulations were carried out by the overexpression of DPD in tumor cells and by tumor selective DPD inhibition.