Total urinary arsenic concentration from a pediatric patient treated witharsenic trioxide for acute promyelocytic leukemia determined by hydride generation-microwave plasma-atomic emission spectrometry

Abstract Although arsenic is well known to be a toxic element, arsenic trioxide (ATO) is an effective pharmaceutical agent for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). In this study, total urinary arsenic concentrations from a pediatric patient with APL treated with ATO during induction therapy were determined by hydride generation-microwave plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (HG-MP-AES). The limit of detection and limit of quantification were calculated to be 0.32 and 1.09 ng/mL, respectively. Accuracy and precision were good. The total urinary arsenic concentrations were equivalent to those reported in previous studies. During consolidation therapy, the total urinary arsenic concentrations increased steadily for the first 11 days, and then increased with fluctuations. Our results show that HG-MP-AES is a low-cost, operationally simple, high-sensitivity method suitable for monitoring total urinary arsenic concentrations following ATO treatment. Our method may contribute to determining the dosage and reducing the adverse effects of ATO.