Is Capecitabine safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Capecitabine. This is a summary of that source — not our own verdict.
Effects on the breastfed infant
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Effects on milk supply
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Levels in milk
Capecitabine is a prodrug that is metabolized to fluorouracil. Maternal Levels. A mother who was 9 months postpartum was diagnosed with rectal cancer and began treatment with pelvic radiotherapy and a continuous intravenous infusion of fluorouracil 200 mg/square meter daily. Her plasma fluorouracil concentration was constant at about 110 micromoles/L (14.3 mg/L) from weeks 2 to 5 of therapy. She discontinued nursing her infant and pumped her breasts twice daily and collected 36 breastmilk samples before, during and for 10 days following fluorouracil therapy (exact times not specified). Fluorouracil was undetectable ( 0.5 micromole/L [ 65 mcg/L]) in all of the milk samples.[ 5 ] Infant Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
“No published information” means the studies do not exist yet — not that Capecitabine is known to be harmful, and not that it is known to be safe. Your prescriber or pharmacist can weigh your baby's age and whether a better-studied alternative would do the same job. Worth asking before stopping a medicine you need.
Source: NIH LactMed (National Library of Medicine).
Educational summary of an authoritative source — not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine while breastfeeding without confirming with your doctor.