Vibrational spectroscopy for discrimination and quantification of clinical chemotherapeutic preparations

In a clinical setting, analytical quality control of the administration of chemotherapeutic preparations is required to ensure patient safety with respect to the dose and more importantly the correct anticancer drug. As such, analytical tools enabling both qualitative and quantitative verification of the composition of prepared solutions can greatly benefit the hospital workflow, reducing cost and ultimately ensuring optimum patient care and outcome. Raman and infrared spectroscopy are rapid and cost-effective techniques, delivering label free mo-lecular characterisation of samples. A comparative study has been conducted using four commercial intravenous formulations, DOXORUBICINE TEVA?, CERUBIDINE?, HOLOXAN? and METHOTREXATE MYLAN?, respec-tively containing doxorubicin, daunorubicin, ifosfamide and methotrexate as active drugs. Using clinically relevant concentration ranges prepared in 0.9 % NaCl or 5% glucose solutions, it is demonstrated that 100 % discrimination can be achieved for all formulations using either Raman or IR spectroscopic techniques, combined with multivariate discriminant analysis. Employing a partial least square regression analysis, Raman spectros-copy performed on liquid samples delivers a better accuracy compared to infrared for quantification, based on the mean squared error of cross validation. However, it is demonstrated that, despite the strong contribution of glucose and mannitol, an excipient found in CERUBIDINE?, infrared spectroscopy remains an equally viable option for translation into clinics.

Automated summary

In the clinical setting, Raman and infrared spectroscopy techniques can be effectively used for quality control of chemotherapeutic dosages, benefiting hospital workflow and patient care. A comparative study showed that these techniques combined with multivariate discriminant analysis can accurately distinguish between different chemotherapeutic formulations. Raman spectroscopy provides better accuracy than infrared for quantification of liquid samples, despite the strong contribution of excipients like glucose and mannitol.