Conclusion
The use of FCMIA with a simple sampling technique has potential for low cost simultaneous detection and semi-quantitative measurement of surface contamination from multiple antineoplastic drugs.
Methods
In this study we examined the feasibility of using fluorescence covalent microbead immunosorbent assay (FCMIA) for simultaneous detection and semi-quantitative measurement of three antineoplastic drugs (5-fluorouracil, paclitaxel, and doxorubicin). The concentration ranges for the assay were 0-1000 ng/ml for 5-fluorouracil, 0-100 ng/ml for paclitaxel, and 0-2 ng/ml for doxorubicin. The surface sampling technique involved wiping a loaded surface with a swab wetted with wash buffer, extracting the swab in storage/blocking buffer, and measuring drugs in the extract using FCMIA.
Results
There was no significant cross-reactivity between these drugs at the ranges studied indicated by a lack of response in the assay to cross analytes. The limit of detection (LOD) for 5-fluorouracil on the surface studied was 0.93 ng/cm(2) with a limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 2.8 ng/cm(2), the LOD for paclitaxel was 0.57 ng/cm(2) with an LOQ of 2.06 ng/cm(2), and the LOD for doxorubicin was 0.0036 ng/cm(2) with an LOQ of 0.013 ng/cm(2).