Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsUsesBefore TakingHow It WorksEfficacyDosage/AdministrationSide EffectsRisksContraindicationsFrequently Asked Questions
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Uses
Before Taking
How It Works
Efficacy
Dosage/Administration
Side Effects
Risks
Contraindications
Frequently Asked Questions
Xelodais the brand name forcapecitabine. It is an oral chemotherapy (chemo) medication that treatsmetastatic breast cancer. Metastatic means the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
As a breast cancer chemo pill, Xeloda may be given alone or combined with other anti-cancer medications. It is often prescribed after other chemotherapy does not work or when the cancer recurs, or returns. Xeloda can be used to treat colorectal (CRC) cancers too.
This article discusses Xeloda’s mechanism of action (how it works), along with its uses, dosage, side effects, risks, and contraindications.
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Xeloda has been approved to treat metastatic breast cancer that has not responded to previous treatment, or when previous treatment has stopped working. Xeloda may be given alone or in combination with another medication such as Taxotere (docetaxel) or Tykerb (lapatinib).
Previous treatments include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or endocrine (hormone) therapy originally prescribed based on your type of breast cancer. For example, Xeloda is typically given when you have not responded to other chemotherapy medications such as Taxol (paclitaxel), Adriamycin (doxorubicin), or Taxotere (docetaxel).
Xeloda is considered for the following types of metastatic breast cancer:
Your healthcare team may consider Xeloda in specific circumstances. They include:
Your healthcare team will evaluate your case to see if Xeloda is a good fit for you. This depends on the type, stage, and size of the cancer. It is also based on where the cancer has spread, previous treatment, and how you responded to that treatment.
Before starting Xeloda, you will receive education about the drug and how side effects can be managed. Your healthcare provider may order baseline blood tests or anelectrocardiogram(ECG orEKG).
Is There a Xeloda Generic?Yes, Xeloda is the brand name for capecitabine. The Food and Drug Administration approved the Xeloda generic in 2013.It’s made the drug more widely available. The generic cost is typically lower, but it will vary widely depending on factors like your insurance coverage or how you buy it. The drug company that makes the Xeloda brand also has afinancial aid program.
Is There a Xeloda Generic?
Yes, Xeloda is the brand name for capecitabine. The Food and Drug Administration approved the Xeloda generic in 2013.It’s made the drug more widely available. The generic cost is typically lower, but it will vary widely depending on factors like your insurance coverage or how you buy it. The drug company that makes the Xeloda brand also has afinancial aid program.
Efficacy refers to the effectiveness of a medicine. Studies show that Xeloda is an effective medication in the treatment of breast cancer. It helps to decrease the chance of cancer returning and prolongs survival for those withmetastaticbreast cancer.
This includes giving it alone, when combined withstandard chemotherapy, as a post-surgical treatment, or in combination with either Taxotere or Tykerb.
Chemotherapy for Metastatic Breast Cancer
While studies show that it can be effective for many people, Xeloda may not be as effective as some other drugs, and adding it to other chemotherapy drugs may increase the risk of side effects.
HER2-Positive vs. HER2-Negative Cancer
Dosage and Schedule
Xeloda is an oblong, peach-colored pill given in either 150 milligram (mg) or 500 mg dosages. It’s generally taken twice a day, ideally about 30 minutes after a meal and with plenty of water.
The pills should not be crushed, chewed, or dissolved. If you miss a dose, you should wait until your next dose is due and take only that. You should not take an extra dose to compensate for the missed dose.
It’s taken on a cyclical dosage schedule that’s two weeks on, one week off, then two weeks on. Your healthcare provider will decide how long you’ll stay on this cycle.
Common side effects of Xeloda include:
If you experience mouth or tongue sores, replace your usual toothbrush with a soft-bristled kind. There are also many other measures and food choices you can make to reduce this symptom.
How to Cope with Mouth Sores During Cancer Treatment
If you experience dizziness, plan to take it easy. If you’re extremely nauseous, your healthcare provider may recommend anti-nausea medications to help you through.
The side effects of Xeloda may be different if you are taking it along with Taxotere or otherchemotherapy drugs.Be sure to report all of your side effects to your healthcare provider. Note the dates and times they occur and the severity of each symptom.
Call your healthcare provider and stop taking Xeloda immediately if you have these symptoms:Severe diarrheaSevere vomitingPainful sores in your mouth and tongueFever
Call your healthcare provider and stop taking Xeloda immediately if you have these symptoms:
Taking Xeloda with blood thinners such aswarfarincan cause your blood to thin more. This puts you at risk of bleeding more than usual, even with minor cuts.
Tell your healthcare provider if you take blood thinners. They may want to prescribe a lower dose of Xeloda or monitor your bloodwork more frequently.
To avoid common scrapes and scratches, consider wearing gloves while doing housework or gardening, protect your skin in cool weather, and switch to an electric razor.
Drug Interactions and SupplementsWarfarin and other blood thinners are drugs that interact with Xeloda. It’s important to note that some nutritional supplements may also work as blood thinners, and you should talk to your oncology team before taking them.
Drug Interactions and Supplements
Warfarin and other blood thinners are drugs that interact with Xeloda. It’s important to note that some nutritional supplements may also work as blood thinners, and you should talk to your oncology team before taking them.
In those 80 years old or older, Xeloda may cause more diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting than in younger people.
Hand-foot syndrome can occur with Xeloda. It often starts with darkening of the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. As it progresses, it can become more like a sunburn.There are several things you can do to help prevent this, including keeping your hands and feet cool, wearing good shoes, and not going barefoot.
Xeloda can causephotosensitivity, which means you may get a sunburn more easily. Consider the following precautions to help protect your skin:
Since Xeloda can make you more susceptible to infections, it’s best to avoid situations that might put you at risk, such as crowded places and visiting ill friends.
How to Lower Your Risk of Infection During Cancer Treatment
Modifications
If you are in any of the following categories, your healthcare team may adjust your dose, monitor you more closely, or choose another medication:
You should not take Xeloda if you have the following:
Monitoring Your Response to Treatment
Summary
Xeloda (capecitabine) is an oral chemotherapy medication that treats metastatic breast cancer. It can be given alone or in combination with other chemotherapy medications. Typically, it is given when other treatment does not work or stops working. It can also be used for colon and rectal cancers.
Those with severe kidney impairment or hypersensitivity to Xeloda or any of its components should not take this medication.
Xeloda is taken in three-week rotating cycles of 14 days on and seven days off of medication. Your healthcare team will decide how long you will be on the medication based on your case. In some cases, they may order eight cycles.Or you may stay on it until it is no longer helpful or causes significant side effects.
Xeloda has a short half-life of about 45 minutes.It takes five half-lives for the medication to leave your body, which is four hours for this medication. However, the effects of the medication last longer and side effects can occur later.
Studies show that after five years the overall survival rate was 89.2% for women treated with Xeloda compared to 83.6% for women who were not treated with it. And 74.1% had remained cancer-free with Xeloda after five years, compared to 67.7% of those who didn’t receive it.
12 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Institutes of Health. DailyMed.Label: Xeloda—capecitabine tablet, film coated. November 28, 2023.Petrelli F, Ghidini M, Lonati V, et al.The efficacy of lapatinib and capecitabine in HER-2 positive breast cancer with brain metastases: A systematic review and pooled analysis.Eur J Cancer. 2017;84:141-148. doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2017.07.024Masuda N, Lee SJ, Ohtani S, et al.Adjuvant capecitabine for breast cancer after preoperative chemotherapy.N Engl J Med. 2017;376(22):2147-2159. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1612645Nader-Marta G, Martins-Branco D, de Azambuja E.How we treat patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.ESMO Open. 2022;7(1):100343. doi:10.1016/j.esmoop.2021.100343Hoon SN, Lau PKH, White AM, Bulsara MK, Banks PD, Redfern AD.Capecitabine for hormone receptor-positive versus hormone receptor-negative breast cancer.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021;2021(5):CD011220. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD011220.pub2US Food and Drug Administration.Drugs @ FDA: FDA-approved drugs. Capecitabine.Natori A, Ethier J, Amir E, Cescon D.Capecitabine in early breast cancer: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.Eur J Cancer. 2017;77:40-47. doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2017.02.024Madden R, Kosari S, Peterson GM, Bagheri N, Thomas J.Lapatinib plus capecitabine in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer: A systematic review.Int J Clin Parmacol Ther. 2018;56(2):72-80. doi:10.5414/CP203123Harvard School of Public Health.The importance of hydration.Caprez J, Rahim U, Ansari A, Lodhi MU, Rahim M.Hyperpigmentation with capecitabine: Part of hand-foot syndrome or a separate entity?Cureus. 2018;10(3):e2397. doi:10.7759/cureus.2397Lembo S, Raimondo A, Conti V, Venturini M.Photosensitivity and cancer immune‐targeted therapies.Photodermatol Photoimmunol Photomed. 2020;36(3):172-178. doi:10.1111/phpp.12533.American Cancer Society.Chemotherapy for breast cancer.Additional ReadingWoodward W, Fang P, Arriaga L, et al.A phase 2 study of capecitabine and concomitant radiation in women with advanced breast cancer.Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2017;99(4):777-783. doi:10.1016/j.ijrobp.2017.04.030
12 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.National Institutes of Health. DailyMed.Label: Xeloda—capecitabine tablet, film coated. November 28, 2023.Petrelli F, Ghidini M, Lonati V, et al.The efficacy of lapatinib and capecitabine in HER-2 positive breast cancer with brain metastases: A systematic review and pooled analysis.Eur J Cancer. 2017;84:141-148. doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2017.07.024Masuda N, Lee SJ, Ohtani S, et al.Adjuvant capecitabine for breast cancer after preoperative chemotherapy.N Engl J Med. 2017;376(22):2147-2159. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1612645Nader-Marta G, Martins-Branco D, de Azambuja E.How we treat patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.ESMO Open. 2022;7(1):100343. doi:10.1016/j.esmoop.2021.100343Hoon SN, Lau PKH, White AM, Bulsara MK, Banks PD, Redfern AD.Capecitabine for hormone receptor-positive versus hormone receptor-negative breast cancer.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021;2021(5):CD011220. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD011220.pub2US Food and Drug Administration.Drugs @ FDA: FDA-approved drugs. Capecitabine.Natori A, Ethier J, Amir E, Cescon D.Capecitabine in early breast cancer: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.Eur J Cancer. 2017;77:40-47. doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2017.02.024Madden R, Kosari S, Peterson GM, Bagheri N, Thomas J.Lapatinib plus capecitabine in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer: A systematic review.Int J Clin Parmacol Ther. 2018;56(2):72-80. doi:10.5414/CP203123Harvard School of Public Health.The importance of hydration.Caprez J, Rahim U, Ansari A, Lodhi MU, Rahim M.Hyperpigmentation with capecitabine: Part of hand-foot syndrome or a separate entity?Cureus. 2018;10(3):e2397. doi:10.7759/cureus.2397Lembo S, Raimondo A, Conti V, Venturini M.Photosensitivity and cancer immune‐targeted therapies.Photodermatol Photoimmunol Photomed. 2020;36(3):172-178. doi:10.1111/phpp.12533.American Cancer Society.Chemotherapy for breast cancer.Additional ReadingWoodward W, Fang P, Arriaga L, et al.A phase 2 study of capecitabine and concomitant radiation in women with advanced breast cancer.Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2017;99(4):777-783. doi:10.1016/j.ijrobp.2017.04.030
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
National Institutes of Health. DailyMed.Label: Xeloda—capecitabine tablet, film coated. November 28, 2023.Petrelli F, Ghidini M, Lonati V, et al.The efficacy of lapatinib and capecitabine in HER-2 positive breast cancer with brain metastases: A systematic review and pooled analysis.Eur J Cancer. 2017;84:141-148. doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2017.07.024Masuda N, Lee SJ, Ohtani S, et al.Adjuvant capecitabine for breast cancer after preoperative chemotherapy.N Engl J Med. 2017;376(22):2147-2159. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1612645Nader-Marta G, Martins-Branco D, de Azambuja E.How we treat patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.ESMO Open. 2022;7(1):100343. doi:10.1016/j.esmoop.2021.100343Hoon SN, Lau PKH, White AM, Bulsara MK, Banks PD, Redfern AD.Capecitabine for hormone receptor-positive versus hormone receptor-negative breast cancer.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021;2021(5):CD011220. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD011220.pub2US Food and Drug Administration.Drugs @ FDA: FDA-approved drugs. Capecitabine.Natori A, Ethier J, Amir E, Cescon D.Capecitabine in early breast cancer: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.Eur J Cancer. 2017;77:40-47. doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2017.02.024Madden R, Kosari S, Peterson GM, Bagheri N, Thomas J.Lapatinib plus capecitabine in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer: A systematic review.Int J Clin Parmacol Ther. 2018;56(2):72-80. doi:10.5414/CP203123Harvard School of Public Health.The importance of hydration.Caprez J, Rahim U, Ansari A, Lodhi MU, Rahim M.Hyperpigmentation with capecitabine: Part of hand-foot syndrome or a separate entity?Cureus. 2018;10(3):e2397. doi:10.7759/cureus.2397Lembo S, Raimondo A, Conti V, Venturini M.Photosensitivity and cancer immune‐targeted therapies.Photodermatol Photoimmunol Photomed. 2020;36(3):172-178. doi:10.1111/phpp.12533.American Cancer Society.Chemotherapy for breast cancer.
National Institutes of Health. DailyMed.Label: Xeloda—capecitabine tablet, film coated. November 28, 2023.
Petrelli F, Ghidini M, Lonati V, et al.The efficacy of lapatinib and capecitabine in HER-2 positive breast cancer with brain metastases: A systematic review and pooled analysis.Eur J Cancer. 2017;84:141-148. doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2017.07.024
Masuda N, Lee SJ, Ohtani S, et al.Adjuvant capecitabine for breast cancer after preoperative chemotherapy.N Engl J Med. 2017;376(22):2147-2159. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1612645
Nader-Marta G, Martins-Branco D, de Azambuja E.How we treat patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.ESMO Open. 2022;7(1):100343. doi:10.1016/j.esmoop.2021.100343
Hoon SN, Lau PKH, White AM, Bulsara MK, Banks PD, Redfern AD.Capecitabine for hormone receptor-positive versus hormone receptor-negative breast cancer.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021;2021(5):CD011220. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD011220.pub2
US Food and Drug Administration.Drugs @ FDA: FDA-approved drugs. Capecitabine.
Natori A, Ethier J, Amir E, Cescon D.Capecitabine in early breast cancer: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.Eur J Cancer. 2017;77:40-47. doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2017.02.024
Madden R, Kosari S, Peterson GM, Bagheri N, Thomas J.Lapatinib plus capecitabine in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer: A systematic review.Int J Clin Parmacol Ther. 2018;56(2):72-80. doi:10.5414/CP203123
Harvard School of Public Health.The importance of hydration.
Caprez J, Rahim U, Ansari A, Lodhi MU, Rahim M.Hyperpigmentation with capecitabine: Part of hand-foot syndrome or a separate entity?Cureus. 2018;10(3):e2397. doi:10.7759/cureus.2397
Lembo S, Raimondo A, Conti V, Venturini M.Photosensitivity and cancer immune‐targeted therapies.Photodermatol Photoimmunol Photomed. 2020;36(3):172-178. doi:10.1111/phpp.12533.
American Cancer Society.Chemotherapy for breast cancer.
Woodward W, Fang P, Arriaga L, et al.A phase 2 study of capecitabine and concomitant radiation in women with advanced breast cancer.Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2017;99(4):777-783. doi:10.1016/j.ijrobp.2017.04.030
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