2 research outputs found
A Microfluidic Technique for Quantification of Steroids in Core Needle Biopsies
Core needle biopsy (CNB) sampling
is known to be inexpensive and
minimally invasive relative to traditional tissue resectioning. But
CNBs are often not used in analytical settings because of the tiny
amount of sample and analyte. To address this challenge, we introduce
an analytical method capable of multiplexed steroid quantification
in CNB samplesî—¸those studied here ranged in mass from 2 to
8 mg. The new method uses digital microfluidics to extract steroids
from CNB tissue samples (including a solid-phase extraction cleanup
step) followed by analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography
tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS/MS). The method has limits
of detection of 3.6, 1.6, 5.8, and 8.5 fmol for estradiol, androstendione,
testoterone, and progesterone, respectively. We propose that future
generations of this method may be useful for regular quantification
of steroids in core needle biopsy samples of breast tissue to inform
dosage and timing of antihormone or hormone replacement therapies
as part of a personalized medicine approach to treating a variety
of hormone-sensitive disorders