Overview of Analytical Methods for Taxanes Quantification in Diluted Formulations and Biological Samples and their Applications in Clinical Practice

The present study aims to review the analytical methods for taxanes quantification in diluted formulations and biological samples and their applications in clinical practice . Improvement of the rational use of classic chemotherapeutic drugs is currently a concern for health professionals, as these still constitute an important strategy for cancer treatment. Taxanes are a group of chemotherapeutic agents routinely used in the treatment of a variety of cancers. Their administration to patients is parenteral, which implies dilutions from commercial stock solutions to obtain the final individualized quantity of drug prescribed, that is, however, not usually confirmed. The absence of this post-dilution quality control can contribute to the variability of clinical response. Analysis of these diluted solutions is extremely important to assure an accurate content and, as a result, a safe and effective chemotherapy. On the other hand, therapeutic drug monitoring is essential to optimize individual therapy of drugs with a narrow therapeutic window such as taxanes. Drug quantification in plasma samples is important to establish pharmacokinetic parameters that allow dose adjustment and assess inter- and intra-individual metabolism variability, improving the effectiveness of therapy while minimizing adverse effects. Methods to quantify plasmatic concentrations of taxanes are, therefore, important in clinical practice, contributing to the individualization of treatments. This work made a bibliographic review and comparison of currently available analytical methods for these objectives. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and micellar electro-kinetic chromatography(MEKC) analytical methods were considered and compared for quantification of taxanes in hospital laboratories and it was concluded that, although LC-MS/MS is an extremely powerful technique, HPLC is versatile and cost-effective for both purposes.