Optimization of a liquid chromatographic separation for the simultaneous determination of four anthracyclines and their respective 13-S -dihydro metabolites

Doxorubicin liposomes cell penetration enhancement and its potential drawbacks for the tumor targeting efficiency

The clinical efficacy of the PEGylated doxorubicin liposomes (PLD) is limited by low tumor accumulation and limited intra-tumoral disposition. Decoration with the cell penetration enhancers (CPEs) can increase the PLD permeability via the biological barriers, however at the expense of enhanced distribution to the non-target organs and tissues, and may interfere with their tumor accumulation and with the resulting anti-cancer effects. We investigated the effect of the surface CPE agent tetraArg-[G-1]-distearoyl glycerol (DAG-Arg₄) on the systemic and intra-tumoral accumulation of PLD, using a 4 T1-Luc murine orthotopic model of breast cancer, using several analytical approaches. CPE-decorated liposomes undergo efficient in vitro endocytosis, and delivered doxorubicin to the cell nuclei. In vivo, they had lower tumor and spleen accumulation, similar liver accumulation, and higher lung accumulation, as compared to those of the PLD. Despite the lower tumor accumulation, CPE-decorated liposomes induced more prominent in vivo anti-cancer effects, as compared to the PLD, apparently ascribable to the higher intra-tumoral permeability mediated by the CPE surface residues. Overall, liposomes decoration with the CPE residues had mostly beneficial effects on their systemic and intra-tumoral disposition. The mechanisms of the CPE-mediated effects on the liposome disposition should be further assessed with additional experimental models using robust analytical methods with high spatial resolution.

Antineoplastic drugs and their analysis: a state of the art review

We provide an overview of the analytical methods available for the quantification of antineoplastic drugs in pharmaceutical formulations, biological and environmental samples.

Analysis of anticancer drugs: a review

In the last decades, the number of patients receiving chemotherapy has considerably increased. Given the toxicity of cytotoxic agents to humans (not only for patients but also for healthcare professionals), the development of reliable analytical methods to analyse these compounds became necessary. From the discovery of new substances to patient administration, all pharmaceutical fields are concerned with the analysis of cytotoxic drugs. In this review, the use of methods to analyse cytotoxic agents in various matrices, such as pharmaceutical formulations and biological and environmental samples, is discussed. Thus, an overview of reported analytical methods for the determination of the most commonly used anticancer drugs is given.

Quantitative liquid chromatographic analysis of anthracyclines in biological fluids

Anthracyclines are amongst the most widely used drugs in oncology, being part of the treatment regimen in most patients receiving systemic chemotherapy. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the sample preparation techniques and chromatographic methods that have been developed during the last two decades for the analysis of the 4 most administered anthracyclines, doxorubicin, epirubicin, daunorubicin and idarubicin in plasma, serum, saliva or urine, within the context of clinical and pharmacokinetic studies or for assessing occupational exposure. Following deproteinization, liquid-liquid extraction, solid phase extraction or a combination of these techniques, the vast majority of methods utilizes reversed-phase C18 stationary phases for liquid chromatographic separation, followed by fluorescence detection, or, more recently, tandem mass spectrometric detection. Some pros and cons of the different techniques are addressed, in addition to potential pitfalls that may be encountered in the analysis of this class of compounds.