Should capecitabine replace 5-fluorouracil in the first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer?

Table 2 Comparison of treatment safety (Grade 3/4 events) as a monotherapy

Clinical trial	Treatments	Diarrhea	Neutropenia	Stomatitis	HFS
Van Cutsem et al[12] (2001)	Capecitabine vs 5-FU/LV	10.7% vs 10.4%	2.0% vs 19.8%a	1.3% vs 13.3%a	16.2% vs 0.3%a
Hoff et al[11] (2001)	Capecitabine vs 5-FU/LV	15.4% vs 13.9%	2.6% vs 25.9%a	3.0% vs 16.0%a	18.1% vs 0.7%a
Cassidy et al[14] (2002)	Capecitabine vs 5-FU/LV	13.1% vs 12.2%	2.3% vs 22.8%a	2.0% vs 14.7%a	17.1% vs 1%a

^aP < 0.05 vs capecitabine group; HFS: Hand-foot syndrome; LV: Leucovorin.