A commonly prescribed cancer drug that was supposed to help save the patient's life, instead killed her(feminine)

When Dr. Anil Kapoor was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer in January, he had a positive prognosis, and his family was hopeful that the treatment would give him a few more years of life. However, a few weeks later, the 58-year-old resident of Burlington, Ontario, was dead – not due to cancer, according to doctors, but because of the commonly prescribed cancer drug Fluorouracil (5-FU) that was supposed to save his life.

"It was honestly a cruel rollercoaster of emotions," said Anil's son, Akshay Kapoor, to Go Public. "I just feel like we were robbed of time together." 5-FU, used since the 1970s to treat various cancers, including colorectal, stomach, breast, and cervical cancer, can be toxic to certain patients. Some provinces now pre-screen for genetic variants, differences in people's DNA that can lead to serious illness or even death.

Anil underwent pre-screening and received approval to take the drug. However, a few days after his first and only dose, he went from being well enough to work to being bedridden. "He started vomiting and feeling extremely nauseated. And then within 24 hours, he had inflammation in the mouth and throat. He could not eat or drink anything, and he was also having profound diarrhea," said his brother Scott Kapoor to Go Public.

Three weeks later, on February 28, Anil passed away. Further testing revealed a genetic variant that wasn't included in the pre-screening. The Kapoor family was shocked to learn that current pre-screening guidelines are based on studies that largely exclude non-white populations.

"We're shocked that this is allowed to happen in Canada," said Scott. Despite their medical knowledge, the Kapoor brothers had never heard about the risks of 5-FU because cancer treatment is highly specialized. Since Anil's death, they have been researching medical journals and consulting with researchers worldwide to understand why the medical system isn't doing more to inform and protect patients.

Dr. Steven Offer, a Mayo Clinic researcher, emphasized that patients are dying from the treatment, not necessarily because the cancer has progressed. Ideally, medical systems should pre-screen for all of the at least 50 genetic variants that can lead to a deadly reaction, a process called full genome sequencing. However, this is not happening in Canada, possibly due to added costs and infrastructure issues.

Health Canada was contacted by Go Public for information about pre-screening and actions taken to address the risks associated with 5-FU, but no response was received in time for publication. Offer pointed out that the problem lies in the fact that studies used to identify common variants mostly involve white patients, leaving other populations more vulnerable.

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