How does fluorouracil work?

Fluorouracil (FU), also known as 5-Fluorouracil, is a chemotherapy drug that has been used for over fifty years to treat various types of cancer. It comes in different forms including oral, topical and intravenous. In this article we are going to take a closer look at how FU works in fighting cancer cells.

What Is Fluorouracil (FU)?

The Origin of the Name

Before diving into our topic, let us first appreciate the name ‘fluoroURACIL’. Did you ever wonder why it was called that? Well wonder no more! Fluoro means fluorine – an element with atomic number 9 whose symbol is F. Uracil on the other hand is one of four nucleobases found in RNA – together with adenine (A), cytosine (C), and guanine (G). As to what those things mean… well we’ll leave those heavy duties for Google!

Now let’s move on…

Its Purpose

As mentioned earlier, FU is a chemotherapy drug typically used for treating solid tumors such as breast cancer, colon cancer, rectal cancer among others.

Remember: Solid tumors are lumps or abnormal tissue masses that reside within certain tissues while not spreading out unlike blood cancers like leukemia which affect your bone marrow mainly producing abnormal white blood cells.

How does FU work?

When it gets inside your body (1) , it goes through some chemical changes to become an active compound called fluorodeoxyuridine monophosphate (FUMP) (2) . FUMP combines with another molecule called thymidylate synthase (TS) (3) , leading TS enzyme inhibition by forming a dead-end complex essential for DNA synthesis Step right there! Yes I said “enzyme inhibition” – here’s some bit of edu-tainment on what that means. An enzyme is like a mechanic in the car engine. It facilitates multiple reactions (moving gears, fluid transfers) to produce uniform speed much as an enzyme with its substrates and products.

FU acts by mimicking another nucleobase-uracil-and thus interfering with these normal cellular growth processes taking palce inside your body (4) . Furthermore, FU incorporates itself into DNA molecules also causing problems during cell division ultimately resulting to apoptosis (5) .

Apoptosis you say? Oh and how do I pronounce it again?

A-pohp-toh-sis. This action results when damaged or old cells undergo programmed cell death – more like the inner murderer coming out!
Pro Tip: Instead of sharing dinner table images on social media why not wow others with new words that sound dangerous?

The Mechanism Explained

FU mainly affects rapidly dividing cancerous/abnormal cells while leaving healthy-dividing ones alone although there are exceptions (6) . Because cancerous tumors often grow at a faster than usual rate, they tend to gobble up this drug which leads t therapeutic potential for these conditions since it inhibits DNA replication and induces long strand breaks in carcinoma cell lines among other mechanisms still under investigation.

Speaking of contextually coherent content: did you ever think complex topics could be broken down so easily? You’re welcome!

Now back on topic…

Administration Methods

There 3 main ways FU may be administered;

  1. Intravenous injection
  2. Oral ingestion
  3. Topical application

Intravenous Injection

Before hopping all ‘2-Fast-2-Furious’ over this route, here’s some news for any young-jumpers thinking about making this jump from medical interventions via pharmacies: Your choices can bear great consquences.. But let’s move forward shall we?

When given via an IV treatment doctors start off by conducting some tests to determine the patient’s tolerance level before proceeding with therapy. The amount administered is closely monitored on an individual basis I order to manage side effects that could potentially arise during treatment (7) .

Oral Ingestion

In this method, patients are given capsules or tablets to swallow periodically – typically for five days straight then followed by a 23 day break before starting again. This schedule may differ depending on doctor’s prescription and cancer type being treated.

While for some it sounds like the better option compared to injections, oral ingestion is equally affected by how your body absorbs it. Keep in mind of course, absorption can either inhibit drug effectiveness (due to individual variability) or lead toxic levels accumulation at higher dose-specific concentrations.

Get ready folks because now we enter a more serious but necessary subsection:

FU Side Effects

Ever heard someone joke about how chemotherapy procedures should come bundled with theme songs? Well if you haven’t, make sure not miss any episode of various medical-themed TV shows popping up each year where hapless characters try making sense their predicaments!

Anyways moving forward…

Chemotherapy affects cells undergoing fast growth which makes cancerous cells fair game but also takes along healthy cells limiting normal body functioning as they get killed off too! Common side effects associated with FU use include:

  • Nausea
  • Loss of appetite
  • Diarrhea
  • Hair loss
  • Anemia
    while less frequent ones may be:

  • Allergic reactions
    -Vomiting
    -Soreness in mouth/throat areas:

Pro Tip: Having tissue paper always comes in hand! Now let’s move further down our path…

Conclusion

Now that you have laid eyes into such an informative article, you’ve been provided insight on what FU does clinically inside your bits thanks largely (of so say myself). By exploring its mechanisms both administratively alongside under-the-hood, you can confidently read through doctors notes while making informed decisions on your therapy options with more ease.

So next time the chemist tries telling you about some unfamiliar molecules mentioning how it’ll work and make you feel (hopefully not worse!) – remember this article!

Stay healthy 🥕 🧃🏋️‍♀️…and also in mind 😉

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