Determination of vinblastine in tumour tissue with liquid chromatography–high resolution mass spectrometry

There are virtually no analytical methods that describe determination of vinblastine and other vinca alkaloids in tumour tissue, albeit quantitative data on tumour drug amount is essential for maximal benefit of a particular anticancer treatment. The analytical method presented herein uses state-of-the-art sample preparation, separation and detection techniques to allow sensitive and selective determination of vinblastine in tumour tissue. After cryogenic grinding and sonication, tumour suspensions were extracted by Oasis MAX solid phase extraction and analysed for vinblastine with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to positive electrospray ionisation–high resolution mass spectrometric detection. The developed analytical method quantifies vinblastine down to 23 ng/g tumour tissue and shows satisfactory linearity (r2>0.99), precision (1.1–8.2%), accuracy (98%) and high selectivity with almost complete absence of matrix effects. The proposed method was found suitable to follow vinblastine levels in mice tumours and could be used to support preclinical pharmacologic studies.