A pilot study investigating plasma pharmacokinetics and tolerance of oral capecitabine in carcinoma-bearing dogs

Background Capecitabine is an oral prodrug of the active metabolite 5-fluorouracil, which has been used effectively in human colorectal, head and neck, and mammary carcinomas. Capecitabine has several properties that make it an attractive treatment option for dogs: (i) it is relatively inexpensive, (ii) it has a short half-life in humans, allowing for rapid plasma concentration changes to be achieved with dosage adjustments, (iii) it is effective for treating carcinomas in humans, for which there are no widely-effective oral chemotherapy options in dogs, and (iv) it is thought to preferentially target cancer cells due to different expression of thymidine phosphorylase, thereby decreasing the risk of off-target side effects. However, capecitabine has not been widely explored as a chemotherapy agent for dogs. The goal of this study was to determine the plasma disposition of capecitabine in dogs following a single oral dose and to document any adverse events associated with capecitabine administration over the course of 5 weeks. Results Capecitabine was well tolerated throughout the 5-week study period when administered to 5 dogs with naturally occurring carcinomas at 750 mg/m ^2 by mouth once daily for 14 consecutive days in a 3-week cycle. No dogs withdrew from the study due to adverse events or other causes. The median AUC _0-last was 890 h · ng/ml (range 750-1100 h · ng/ml); however, the maximum blood concentration and time to reach that concentration of capecitabine was highly variable after a single dose. Conclusions Capecitabine appears well-tolerated as an oral chemotherapy agent for dogs with carcinomas, although individualized dosing may be necessary, and further studies are warranted.