Abstract: AIM: To evaluate the pharmacokinetics, bioequivalence, and safety of capecitabine tablet in cancer patients following single oral administration.  METHODS: Based on an open-randomized two-period crossover designation, subjects were orally given capecitabine tablet (test or reference products, 0.6 g single dosage). Blood samples were then collected and the plasma concentrations of capecitabine and its active metabolite, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) were examined by HPLC-MS/MS. The bioequivalence between the test and reference formulations were evaluated with the pharmacokinetic parameters determined by the Phoenix WinNonlin 7.0 software. RESULTS: The numbers of the major pharmacokinetic parameters in patients treated with test and reference products were similar. To analyze the numbers of Cmax, tmax, AUC0-t, AUC0-∞, the 90% confidence interval (CI) for Cmax, AUC0-t and AUC0-∞ were 84.48-106.70, 93.03-96.54 and 96.34-102.84, respectively. For the 5-FU, the 90%CI of the for Cmax, AUC0-t and AUC0-∞ were 84.32-99.67, 90.55-98.76 and 96.99-103.48, respectively. Both sets of numbers fell within the bioequivalent limit ranges of 80.00%-125.00%. No serious adverse event was observed. CONCLUSION: The current data indicate that the test and reference formulations of capecitabine tablets were bioequivalent in cancer patients.

Key words: capecitabine, 5-FU, pharmacokinetic, bioequivalence