Raltitrexed in patients with dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) deficiency

Key Message

This review identified limited evidence regarding the clinical effectiveness of raltitrexed for patients who had previously experienced adverse events following treatment with fluoropyrimidines. These studies had several limitations, most notably lacking a separate control group; therefore, the effectiveness of raltitrexed in this population is uncertain.

Limited evidence was found about the safety of raltitrexed for patients who had previously experienced adverse events with fluoropyrimidine treatment. Reported adverse events included cardiac or vascular adverse events, anemia, and nausea and vomiting. No treatment-associated deaths were reported in the studies included in this review.

No studies were identified that compared the clinical effectiveness of raltitrexed to other therapies, placebo, or no treatment comparator groups for treatment of patients who had experienced adverse events from fluoropyrimidine therapy.

This review identified evidence for people who had previously experienced severe adverse events, primarily cardiotoxicity, following treatment with fluoropyrimidines. It is unclear if these findings are appliable to patients with a complete dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase deficiency.