Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. According to 2012 data from Dharmais Cancer Hospital, the three most common types of cancer, with increasing cases and deaths, are breast cancer, cervical cancer, and lung cancer (Indonesian Ministry of Health, 2015).
In relation to this case, UI Pharmacy Doctor (Sri Teguh Rahayu) conducted a study entitled "Analysis of Tamoxifen and 4-Hydroxytamoxifen in Female White Mice (Sprague-Dawley) After Administration of Active Fraction of Ant Nest (Myrmecodia erinacea Becc.) As a Cancer Chemopreventive”.
The doctor, who is currently also serving as a permanent lecturer at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Pharmacy Study Program, Esa Unggul University, Jakarta, conducted an analysis of Tamoxifen, a synthetic non-steroidal antiestrogen that is a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM). Approximately 70% of postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor-α positive (ERα+) breast cancer are known to receive tamoxifen in their treatment (HU, Hilakivi-Clarke, & Clarke, 2015). Treatment with tamoxifen is very effective in reducing cases and deaths in women. pre and postmenopause breast cancer patients with estrogen receptor-α positive (ERα+) up to 31% (Chen et al., 2014).
Tamoxifen has an antiestrogenic effect on breast tissue so it is used in the treatment of breast cancer, but tamoxifen also has an estrogenic effect on endometrial tissue if long-term use of 5-10 years can risk causing secondary cancer in the form of endometrial cancer (Hu, Hilakivi-Clarker, & Clarker, 2015). Treatment with tamoxifen in women with breast cancer with estrogen receptor-α positive (ERα+) requires a long time and treatment of 2-5 years risks increasing disorders in the genital tract and treatment of more than five years increases the risk of death in patients with endometrial cancer (Jones et al., 2012)
This study aims to obtain a sensitive, specific and selective analysis method for tamoxifen and 4-hydroxytamoxifen using Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry referring to EMEA criteria so that it can be used to measure the concentration of tamoxifen and 4-hydroxytamoxifen in plasma.
