A case of 5-fluorouracil-induced peripheral neuropathy

The standard adjuvant therapy for rectal cancer is 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) often combined with radiotherapy. Well-documented side effects of 5-FU include nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, leukopenia and thrombocytopenia, hand-foot syndrome, mucositis, and cardiotoxicity. Peripheral neurotoxicity has only rarely been reported. We report a patient with a stage II rectal carcinoma who developed a mild axonal sensorimotor neuropathy at the end of a 5-FU therapy.