Pharmacokinetics of arsenic species in Japanese patients with relapsed or refractory acute promyelocytic leukemia treated with arsenic trioxide

Purpose To investigate the pharmacokinetics of arsenic species in Japanese patients with relapsed or refractory acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) treated with arsenic trioxide (ATO) at a daily dose of 0.15 mg/kg. Methods Inorganic arsenic (As^III and As^V) and the major metabolites monomethylarsonic acid (MAA^V) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMAA^V) in plasma and urine collected from 12 Japanese patients were quantified by HPLC/ICP-MS. Results The plasma concentrations of As^III and As^V on day 1 reached the similar Cmax (12.4 ± 8.4 and 10.2 ± 3.9 ng/ml) immediately after completion of administration followed by a biphasic elimination. The AUC_0–∞ of As^V was about twice that of As^III. The appearance of methylated metabolites in the blood was delayed. During the repeated administration, the plasma concentrations of inorganic arsenic reached the steady state. In contrast, the MAA^V and DMAA^V concentrations increased in relation to increased administration frequency. The mean total arsenic excretion rate including inorganic arsenic and methylated arsenic was about 20% of daily dose on day1 and remained at about 60% of daily dose during week 1–4. Conclusions This study demonstrates that ATO is metabolized when administered intravenously to APL patients and methylated metabolites are promptly eliminated from the blood and excreted into urine after completion of administration, indicating no measurable accumulation of ATO in the blood. This study was partly supported by a Grant-in-aid for Cancer Research (no. 9–2) of the Ministry of Health and Welfare.