Fluoropyrimidine pathway

Fluoropyrimidines are a group of agents that serve as antimetabolites. Because most tumor cells are rapidly proliferating they require an increased supply of nucleic acid precursors, such as uracil. Fluoropyrimidines exert their antitumor effects, leading to DNA strand breaks, by inhibiting thymidylate synthase activity, inhibiting RNA synthesis and function and incorporation into DNA.