Lipid Profile in Patients with Cancer before and After Receiving Xeloda

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Capecitabine (Xeloda) is an orally administered pro-drug of 5-fluorouracil، which is used as chemotherapeutic agent. Some studies have raised concerns about the lipid profile changes following Xeloda. In this study we examined such probable changes in patients before and after receiving Xeloda. Materials and Methods: Lipid profile changes were measured before and after administration of Xeloda in 100 patients with gastrointestinal cancers. Serum levels of triglyceride، total cholesterol، low-density lipoprotein (LDL)، and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were measure at baseline and 3 months after starting Xeloda. Hypertriglyceridemia was defined as serum triglyceride>200 mg/dl and hypercholesterolemia was defined as serum total cholesterol>200 mg/dl. Results: A total of 64 male and 36 female patients with a mean age of 61.11±12.51 years (range: 31-68) were recruited. The mean serum level of triglyceride increased significantly from 148.51±39.28 mg/dl at baseline to 194.17±78.88 mg/dl 3 months after taking Xeloda (p<0.001). Similar trends were observed for serum levels of total cholesterol (from 190.29±51.56 mg/dl to 197.86±56.44 mg/dl; p<0.001) and HDL (from 44.35±9.94 mg/dl to 45.94±9.13 mg/dl; p=0.001). Change of serum LDL was not significant (p=0.10). We found that forty-two percent and 15% of patients developed hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia 3 months after treatment، respectively. Conclusion: Xeloda increases serum levels of triglyceride، total cholesterol and HDL.

Keywords: Cancer, Lipid Profile, Capecitabine, Hypertriglyceridemia, Hypercholesterolemia