A sensitive and selective liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous quantification of actinomycin-D and vincristine in children with cancer

J Mass Spectrom. 2007 Jun;42(6):761-70. doi: 10.1002/jms.1211.

Abstract

We describe a selective and a highly sensitive assay for actinomycin-D (Act-D) and vincristine (VCR) in plasma employing high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) detection. The intraday precision (as defined by the coefficient of variation, CV) based on the standard deviation of replicates of quality control samples ranged from 4.9 to 7.5% and 6.5 to 11.3% with accuracy ranging from 90.7 to 98.1% and 91.2 to 103% for Act-D and VCR, respectively. The interday precision ranged from 7.2 to 10.0% and 11.3 to 13.0% and the accuracy ranged from 94.3 to 102% and 90.7 to 91.6% for Act-D and VCR, respectively. Stability studies showed that Act-D and VCR were stable both during the assay procedure and long-term storage. The lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) for both Act-D and VCR was 0.05 ng/ml. The analytical method showed excellent sensitivity, precision, and accuracy. This method is robust and is being successfully employed in a pharmacokinetic study of these agents in children with cancer, and is expected to support several ongoing and future pediatric trials.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / blood*
  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / pharmacokinetics
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols
  • Child
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid*
  • Dactinomycin / blood*
  • Dactinomycin / pharmacokinetics
  • Humans
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / instrumentation
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / methods*
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry / instrumentation
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry / methods*
  • Vincristine / blood*
  • Vincristine / pharmacokinetics

Substances

  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic
  • Dactinomycin
  • Vincristine