Gastrointestinal toxicity of 5-FU and 5-FUDR: radiographic findings.

The authors describe two patients who suffered gastrointestinal toxicity after receiving chemotherapy for unresectable lesions in the liver that metastasized from colonic carcinoma. One patient had severe ileitis caused by intravenous administration of 5-fluorouracil; the other had severe duodenitis caused by infusion of 5-floxuridine into the hepatic artery by an implanted pump. The type of toxicity that occurred was directly related to the route of administration of these chemotherapeutic agents. Cessation of the chemotherapy led to a dramatic clinical response in these patients.