• Several chemotherapy drugs such as 5-fluouracil treat neoplastic disease, including head and neck cancer, breast cancer and gastrointestinal cancer by targeting TS in thymidylate metabolism. • High levels of DUT-N have been combined with chemo resistance and faster tumour progression, and thus, could also serve as a diagnosis marker for overall survival and response to chemotherapy. • Correspondingly , DUT is naturally overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma and may serve as a prognostic marker for the cancer .