Journal of medical case reports
Assessing sexual exposure to oxaliplatin in vaginal secretions during FOLFOX chemotherapy: a case report
Door Bolten K, Bleyle L, DeBarber A en 1 anderen.
Inhoud in het Engels
Abstract
Background
Sexual health is increasingly relevant to survivorship care among people with cancer. There is little quantitative data to inform the risk of exposure to chemotherapeutics during sex with someone receiving chemotherapy.
Case presentation
A 54-year-old non-Hispanic white woman with Stage IIIA rectal cancer self-collected vaginal swabs and urine for 5 consecutive days during two cycles of chemotherapy. Swabs and urine were tested for intact oxaliplatin levels using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC). Urine oxaliplatin levels peaked on the first day after chemotherapy and remained detectable for up to 3 days. The vaginal swab oxaliplatin levels exhibited significant degradation with freezing. Repeat testing revealed improved recovery with polysorb rather than cotton swabs. Polysorb vaginal swabs detected oxaliplatin only on day 1 after chemotherapy. On this day, the level of oxaliplatin remained at the limit of detection. Conservatively accounting for lost sample during freezing (50%) and assuming detection at the upper end of the limit of detection, we estimate that a vaginal swab could contain up to 2.5 ng of oxaliplatin chemotherapy on the first day after chemotherapy. Oxaliplatin levels from vaginal swab remained below the limit of detection thereafter.