www.know_the_risk_of_5FU_chemotherapy.com

Insist on DPYD Testing before Treatment: it is the New standard of care! 

Last update: 7 Dec 2025

• Two major breakthroughs occurred in October 2025:
• • The US Food and Drug Administration updated the Xeloda drug label adding a Black Box warning that testing for DPD deficiency should precede treatment unless immediate treatment is necessary.
  • The National Comprehensive Cancer Network's (NCCN) Colon/Rectal/Anal cancer panel updated its treatment guidelines in October highlighting the FDA's Box Warning. The panel went on to add: "The same warning was not added
    to the 5-FU label, but this recommendation applies to patients receiving 5-FU as well."
• The Advocates for Universal DPD/DPYD Testing (AUDT) would like to announce two developments that will serve to improve the standard of care in the US:
• • Massachusetts General announced in January 2025 that it will begin pre-screening patients (see test leaders here).
  • The Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston MA, introduced pre-screening for patients preparing for chemotherapy to treat gastrointestinal and breast cancer in Dec 2022. If a person is found to have partial deficiency, they will receive a reduced level of 5-FU or capecitabine; if they are completely deficient, they will receive neither drug and be directed to another treatment regimen.
• The Advocates for Universal DPD/DPYD Testing (AUDT) established themselves in 2021 -- see www.test4DPD.org the latest in advocacy efforts to include a listing of clinicians that are leading the way in testing.