Many
pharmaceuticals contain metals, either as part of the active compound or within the formulation. They are also found in related products such as dietary supplements and toiletries. Concentrations of metals in
biological fluids or tissues from patients taking these agents, are measured where there may be an adverse reaction, dose-related toxicity or for therapeutic
drug monitoring. Other situations, for analysis of environmental samples include occupational exposure (manufacture, administration to patients, pharmaceutical research) or in investigations of
poisoning. Highly sensitive and accurate analytical methods are now available to determine the total
metal concentration in a specific sample, but also to measure the specific chemical form of the
drug, a metabolite of the
drug, or the
drug's interaction with important cellular components, such as
DNA. The use of ICP-MS to measure total
metal concentrations, or HPLC coupled to ICP-MS for the more complex speciation measurements, will depend on the type of information that is required. For the investigation of the
drug species present, other complementary analytical techniques such as electrospray mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) are required for a full structural elucidation of the analytes. In this current publication we highlight the measurement of two
metal(loid) based
pharmaceutical drugs for the treatment of
cancer. One 4-(N-(S-glutathionylacetyl)amino)
phenylarsenoxide (GSAO) containing
arsenic and under investigation for the treatment of solid tumours, and the second
cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) (
cisplatin) containing
platinum and widely used in the clinical setting as a front line treatment against various neplasias in particular testicular, ovarian, bladder and head and
neck cancers.