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Diarrhea / Diarrhoea & Irinotecan

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The dose-limiting side effect of the common colon cancer chemotherapeutic Irinotecan is severe Diarrhea / Diarrhoea caused by symbiotic bacterial beta-glucuronidases that reactivate the drug in the gut
Wallace et al. 2010 Science 330: 831–835

Irinotecan-induced diarrhea has been linked to an increase in the expression of colonic beta-glucuronidase, and also increases in beta-glucuronidase-encoding microorganisms.
Stringer et al. 2008 Cancer Biol Ther. 7: 1919-25

Irinotecan causes both early and late diarrhea, the latter possibly caused in part by changes in the [gut microbiota](brain://FMSaW_VjYE-eATab2yQVNA/GutMic…