Database Query Results : 5-fluorouracil, ,

5-FU, 5-fluorouracil: Click to Expand ⟱
Features:
5-FU is a chemotherapy medication used to treat various types of cancer, including colorectal, breast, stomach, and pancreatic cancer. It belongs to a class of drugs known as antimetabolites, which work by interfering with the growth and replication of cancer cells.
Mechanisms:
- functionally irreversibly inhibits Thymidylate Synthase (TS), thereby depleting the deoxythymidine monophosphate (dTMP) pool required for DNA synthesis. The resulting “thymineless death” prevents DNA replication and repair, particularly affecting rapidly proliferating tumor cells.

5-FU is a cornerstone in chemotherapy with a dual mechanism of action—primarily inhibiting thymidylate synthase (leading to disruption of DNA synthesis) and interfering with RNA processing by misincorporation. Its metabolism via activation (OPRT) and degradation (DPD) plays a crucial role in both its effectiveness and toxicity. Clinically, 5-FU is extensively used in treating a variety of cancers, most notably colorectal cancer, and remains a mainstay in multi-agent chemotherapeutic regimens due to its proven efficacy across diverse cancer types.

5-FU is one of the most common chemotherapeutic agents worldwide, particularly noted in gastrointestinal (GI) cancers.

Rank Pathway / Axis Cancer / Tumor Context Normal Tissue Context TSF Primary Effect Notes / Interpretation
1 Thymidylate synthase (TS) inhibition → dTMP depletion dTMP ↓ → DNA synthesis ↓ → replication stress ↑ Also affects normal proliferating tissues (marrow, GI mucosa) P, R Core cytotoxic mechanism 5-FU is converted to FdUMP, which forms a ternary complex with TS and folate, blocking thymidylate production (“thymineless death”).
2 RNA misincorporation (FUTP incorporation) RNA processing/translation defects ↑ Contributes to mucositis and systemic toxicity P, R Transcription/translation disruption RNA effects are a major contributor to cytotoxicity, particularly with bolus dosing.
3 DNA misincorporation (FdUTP incorporation) DNA damage signaling ↑; apoptosis ↑ (context) DDR activation in normal tissues contributes to toxicity R, G Genome instability Misincorporation triggers mismatch repair and DNA damage responses.
4 S-phase specificity (cell-cycle dependence) Greater killing in actively cycling/S-phase cells Bone marrow & GI epithelium vulnerability ↑ R, G Cell-cycle–linked cytotoxicity Antimetabolite activity is strongest in proliferating cells.
5 Folate modulation (leucovorin synergy) TS inhibition ↑ when combined with leucovorin — R Mechanism amplification Leucovorin stabilizes the FdUMP–TS–folate complex, enhancing cytotoxicity.
6 Myelosuppression — Neutropenia/anemia risk ↑ R, G Dose-limiting toxicity Expected on-target effect in rapidly dividing marrow progenitors.
7 Gastrointestinal toxicity (mucositis/diarrhea) — GI epithelial injury ↑ R, G Dose-limiting toxicity Reflects RNA/DNA effects in rapidly renewing GI mucosa.
8 Cardiotoxicity (vasospasm; rare cardiomyopathy) — Chest pain/ischemia risk ↑ (rare but important) R Serious adverse effect Coronary vasospasm is the most recognized mechanism; monitoring required in symptomatic patients.
9 DPD metabolism (DPYD enzyme) Severe toxicity risk ↑ if DPD deficient — — Pharmacogenetic constraint Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) metabolizes 5-FU; deficiency can cause life-threatening toxicity. Pre-treatment DPYD testing is increasingly recommended.
10 Infusion vs bolus pharmacodynamics Continuous infusion → more TS-driven DNA effect Bolus → more RNA-mediated toxicity P, R, G Dosing-dependent mechanism balance Administration schedule alters relative DNA vs RNA contribution and toxicity profile.

Time-Scale Flag (TSF): P / R / G

  • P: 0–30 min (metabolic activation begins rapidly)
  • R: 30 min–3 hr (TS inhibition, RNA/DNA incorporation, DDR activation)
  • G: >3 hr (cell-cycle arrest, apoptosis, tissue-level toxicities)
Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
4774- 5-FU,  TQ,  CoQ10,    Exploring potential additive effects of 5-fluorouracil, thymoquinone, and coenzyme Q10 triple therapy on colon cancer cells in relation to glycolysis and redox status modulation
- in-vitro, CRC, NA
AntiCan↑, TumCCA↑, Apoptosis↑, eff↑, Bcl-2↓, survivin↓, P21↑, p27↑, BAX↑, Cyt‑c↑, Casp3↑, PI3K↓, Akt↓, mTOR↓, Hif1a↓, PTEN↑, AMPKα↑, PDH↑, LDHA↓, antiOx↓, ROS↑, AntiCan↑,
1000- AG,  5-FU,    Characterization and anti-tumor bioactivity of astragalus polysaccharides by immunomodulation
- vitro+vivo, BC, 4T1
TumCG↓, TumCCA↑, Apoptosis↑, *IL2↑, *TNF-α↑, *IFN-γ↑,
233- AL,  5-FU,    Allicin sensitizes hepatocellular cancer cells to anti-tumor activity of 5-fluorouracil through ROS-mediated mitochondrial pathway
- in-vivo, Liver, NA
ROS↑, MMP↓, Casp3↑, PARP↑, Bcl-2↓,
1009- And,  5-FU,    Andrographis-mediated chemosensitization through activation of ferroptosis and suppression of β-catenin/Wnt-signaling pathways in colorectal cancer
- in-vivo, CRC, HCT116 - in-vitro, CRC, SW480
ChemoSen↑, Casp9↑, Ferroptosis↑, Wnt/(β-catenin)↓, FTL↑, TP53↑, ACSL5↑, GCLC↑, GCLM↑, SAT1↑, STEAP3↑, ACSL5↑,
1294- And,  5-FU,    Andrographolide reversed 5-FU resistance in human colorectal cancer by elevating BAX expression
- in-vitro, CRC, HCT116
Apoptosis↑, BAX↑,
586- Api,  5-FU,    5-Fluorouracil combined with apigenin enhances anticancer activity through mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm)-mediated apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma
- in-vivo, HCC, NA
ROS↑, MMP↓, Bcl-2↓, Casp3↑, PARP↑,
589- Api,  5-FU,    Interactions between dietary flavonoids apigenin or luteolin and chemotherapeutic drugs to potentiate anti-proliferative effect on human pancreatic cancer cells, in vitro
- in-vitro, PC, Bxpc-3
GSK‐3β↓, NF-kB↓,
2295- Ba,  5-FU,    Baicalein reverses hypoxia-induced 5-FU resistance in gastric cancer AGS cells through suppression of glycolysis and the PTEN/Akt/HIF-1α signaling pathway
- in-vitro, GC, AGS
ChemoSen↑, HK2↓, LDHA↓, PDK1↓, Akt↓, PTEN↑, Hif1a↓, Glycolysis↓, ROS↑, CHOP↑,
1385- BBR,  5-FU,    Low-Dose Berberine Attenuates the Anti-Breast Cancer Activity of Chemotherapeutic Agents via Induction of Autophagy and Antioxidation
- in-vitro, BC, MCF-7 - in-vitro, BC, MDA-MB-231
eff↓, ROS↑, TumCP↑, NRF2↑, ChemoSen↓,
751- Bor,  5-FU,    Cytotoxic and Apoptotic Effects of the Combination of Borax (Sodium Tetraborate) and 5-Fluorouracil on DLD-1 Human Colorectal Adenocarcinoma Cell Line
- in-vitro, CRC, DLD1
Apoptosis↑,
939- Catechins,  5-FU,    Targeting Lactate Dehydrogenase A with Catechin Resensitizes SNU620/5FU Gastric Cancer Cells to 5-Fluorouracil
- vitro+vivo, GC, SNU620
lactateProd↓, ROS↑, tumCV↓, LDHA↓, mt-ROS↑, proApCas↑,
2803- CHr,  5-FU,    Potentiating activities of chrysin in the therapeutic efficacy of 5-fluorouracil in gastric cancer cells
- in-vitro, GC, AGS
ChemoSen↑, TumCCA↑, eff↑, MDR1↓,
405- CUR,  5-FU,    Curcumin activates a ROS/KEAP1/NRF2/miR-34a/b/c cascade to suppress colorectal cancer metastasis
- vitro+vivo, CRC, HCT116
Apoptosis↑, TumCMig↓, NRF2↑, ROS↑, MET↑, miR-34a↑,
468- CUR,  5-FU,    Gut microbiota enhances the chemosensitivity of hepatocellular carcinoma to 5-fluorouracil in vivo by increasing curcumin bioavailability
- vitro+vivo, Liver, HepG2 - vitro+vivo, Liver, 402 - vitro+vivo, Liver, Bel7
Apoptosis↑, TumCCA↑, PI3k/Akt/mTOR↓, p‑PI3K↓, Bacteria↑, cl‑Casp3↑,
442- CUR,  5-FU,    Curcumin may reverse 5-fluorouracil resistance on colonic cancer cells by regulating TET1-NKD-Wnt signal pathway to inhibit the EMT progress
- in-vitro, CRC, HCT116
Apoptosis↑, TumCP↓, TumCCA↑, TET1↑, NKD2↑, Wnt↓, EMT↓, Vim↑, E-cadherin↓, β-catenin/ZEB1↓, TCF↓, AXIN1↓,
1878- DCA,  5-FU,    Synergistic Antitumor Effect of Dichloroacetate in Combination with 5-Fluorouracil in Colorectal Cancer
- in-vitro, CRC, LS174T - in-vitro, CRC, LoVo - in-vitro, CRC, SW-620 - in-vitro, CRC, HT-29
tumCV↓, eff↑, PDKs↓, lactateProd↓, Glycolysis↓, mitResp↑, TumCCA↑, Bcl-2↓, BAX↑, Casp3↑,
5197- DCA,  5-FU,    Dichloroacetate attenuates hypoxia-induced resistance to 5-fluorouracil in gastric cancer through the regulation of glucose metabolism
- in-vitro, GC, NA
Glycolysis↓, ChemoSen↑, PDK1↓,
679- EGCG,  5-FU,    Epigallocatechin-3-gallate targets cancer stem-like cells and enhances 5-fluorouracil chemosensitivity in colorectal cancer
- in-vitro, CRC, NA
NOTCH1↓, BMI1↓, SUZ12↓, EZH2↓, miR-34a↑, miR-200c↑, miR-145↑, CSCs↓,
4781- Lyco,  5-FU,  Chemo,  Cisplatin,    Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of lycopene against 5-fluorouracil-induced cytotoxicity in Caco2 cells
- in-vitro, Colon, Caco-2
chemoP↑, Inflam↓, COX2↓, IL1β↓, IL6↓, TNF-α↓, ROS↑, ChemoSen↑, SOD↓,
4535- MAG,  5-FU,    Magnolol and 5-fluorouracil synergy inhibition of metastasis of cervical cancer cells by targeting PI3K/AKT/mTOR and EMT pathways
- in-vitro, Cerv, NA
ChemoSen↑, TumCP↓, vinculin↓, TumCA↓, TumCMig↓, TumCI↓, p‑Akt↓, p‑PI3K↓, mTOR↓, E-cadherin↑, β-catenin/ZEB1↑, Snail↓, Slug↓,
1678- PBG,  5-FU,  sericin,    In vitro and in vivo anti-colorectal cancer effect of the newly synthesized sericin/propolis/fluorouracil nanoplatform through modulation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway
- in-vitro, CRC, Caco-2 - in-vivo, NA, NA
PI3K↓, Akt↓, mTOR↓, TumCP↓, Bcl-2↓, BAX↑, Casp3↑, Casp9↑, ROS↓, FOXO1↑, *toxicity∅, eff↑,
1952- PL,  5-FU,    Piperlongumine induces ROS accumulation to reverse resistance of 5-FU in human colorectal cancer via targeting TrxR
- in-vivo, CRC, HCT8
ROS↑, TrxR↓, eff↑, p‑Akt↓,
3398- TQ,  5-FU,    Impact of thymoquinone on the Nrf2/HO-1 and MAPK/NF-κB axis in mitigating 5-fluorouracil-induced acute kidney injury in vivo
- in-vivo, Nor, NA
*RenoP↑, *TAC↑, *ROS↓, *lipid-P↓, *p38↓, *MAPK↓, *NF-kB↓, *NRF2↑, *HO-1↑, *MDA↓, *GPx↑, *GSR↑, *Catalase↑, *BUN↓, *LDH↓, *IL1β↓,
4888- ZER,  5-FU,    Modulation of the tumor microenvironment by zerumbone and 5-fluorouracil in colorectal cancer by target in cancer-associated fibroblasts
- in-vitro, CRC, CT26
TumVol↓, *tumCV↓, survivin↓, β-catenin/ZEB1↓, Vim↓,

* indicates research on normal cells as opposed to diseased cells
Total Research Paper Matches: 24

Pathway results for Effect on Cancer / Diseased Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress ⓘ

antiOx↓, 1,   Ferroptosis↑, 1,   GCLC↑, 1,   GCLM↑, 1,   NRF2↑, 2,   ROS↓, 1,   ROS↑, 9,   mt-ROS↑, 1,   SOD↓, 1,   TrxR↓, 1,  

Metal & Cofactor Biology ⓘ

FTL↑, 1,   STEAP3↑, 1,  

Mitochondria & Bioenergetics ⓘ

mitResp↑, 1,   MMP↓, 2,  

Core Metabolism/Glycolysis ⓘ

ACSL5↑, 2,   Glycolysis↓, 3,   HK2↓, 1,   lactateProd↓, 2,   LDHA↓, 3,   PDH↑, 1,   PDK1↓, 2,   PDKs↓, 1,   PI3k/Akt/mTOR↓, 1,   SAT1↑, 1,  

Cell Death ⓘ

Akt↓, 3,   p‑Akt↓, 2,   Apoptosis↑, 7,   BAX↑, 4,   Bcl-2↓, 5,   Casp3↑, 5,   cl‑Casp3↑, 1,   Casp9↑, 2,   Cyt‑c↑, 1,   Ferroptosis↑, 1,   p27↑, 1,   proApCas↑, 1,   survivin↓, 2,  

Kinase & Signal Transduction ⓘ

AMPKα↑, 1,  

Transcription & Epigenetics ⓘ

EZH2↓, 1,   miR-145↑, 1,   tumCV↓, 2,  

Protein Folding & ER Stress ⓘ

CHOP↑, 1,  

DNA Damage & Repair ⓘ

PARP↑, 2,   TP53↑, 1,  

Cell Cycle & Senescence ⓘ

P21↑, 1,   TumCCA↑, 6,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State ⓘ

AXIN1↓, 1,   BMI1↓, 1,   CSCs↓, 1,   EMT↓, 1,   FOXO1↑, 1,   GSK‐3β↓, 1,   miR-34a↑, 2,   mTOR↓, 3,   NKD2↑, 1,   NOTCH1↓, 1,   PI3K↓, 2,   p‑PI3K↓, 2,   PTEN↑, 2,   SUZ12↓, 1,   TCF↓, 1,   TumCG↓, 1,   Wnt↓, 1,   Wnt/(β-catenin)↓, 1,  

Migration ⓘ

E-cadherin↓, 1,   E-cadherin↑, 1,   MET↑, 1,   miR-200c↑, 1,   Slug↓, 1,   Snail↓, 1,   TET1↑, 1,   TumCA↓, 1,   TumCI↓, 1,   TumCMig↓, 2,   TumCP↓, 3,   TumCP↑, 1,   Vim↓, 1,   Vim↑, 1,   vinculin↓, 1,   β-catenin/ZEB1↓, 2,   β-catenin/ZEB1↑, 1,  

Angiogenesis & Vasculature ⓘ

Hif1a↓, 2,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling ⓘ

COX2↓, 1,   IL1β↓, 1,   IL6↓, 1,   Inflam↓, 1,   NF-kB↓, 1,   TNF-α↓, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance ⓘ

ChemoSen↓, 1,   ChemoSen↑, 6,   eff↓, 1,   eff↑, 5,   MDR1↓, 1,  

Clinical Biomarkers ⓘ

EZH2↓, 1,   IL6↓, 1,   SUZ12↓, 1,   TP53↑, 1,  

Functional Outcomes ⓘ

AntiCan↑, 2,   chemoP↑, 1,   TumVol↓, 1,  

Infection & Microbiome ⓘ

Bacteria↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 101

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress ⓘ

Catalase↑, 1,   GPx↑, 1,   GSR↑, 1,   HO-1↑, 1,   lipid-P↓, 1,   MDA↓, 1,   NRF2↑, 1,   ROS↓, 1,   TAC↑, 1,  

Core Metabolism/Glycolysis ⓘ

BUN↓, 1,   LDH↓, 1,  

Cell Death ⓘ

MAPK↓, 1,   p38↓, 1,  

Transcription & Epigenetics ⓘ

tumCV↓, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling ⓘ

IFN-γ↑, 1,   IL1β↓, 1,   IL2↑, 1,   NF-kB↓, 1,   TNF-α↑, 1,  

Clinical Biomarkers ⓘ

LDH↓, 1,  

Functional Outcomes ⓘ

RenoP↑, 1,   toxicity∅, 1,  
Total Targets: 22

Query results interpretion may depend on "conditions" listed in the research papers.
Such Conditions may include : 
  -low or high Dose
  -format for product, such as nano of lipid formations
  -different cell line effects
  -synergies with other products 
  -if effect was for normal or cancerous cells

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