Kate Eley

• Development and optimisation of a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry assay for the qauntification of fludarabine in human Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF)
• BSc Hons Pharmacology

Fludarabine is a chemotherapy drug used to prepare patients for CAR-T cell therapy and stem cell transplantation. In children, the amount of fludarabine in important; too little may cause disease relapse, and too much can cause toxicity, including severe neurotoxicity. CAR-T cell therapy is being explored for brain tumours, but it is not clear how well fludarabine enters the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. Studying this is difficult, because human CSF is hard to get and artificial CSF is not suitable for analytical equipment. This project aimed to develop a method for measuring fludarabine in CSF. This could help us understand fludarabine related neurotoxicity and define the levels patients need for CAR-T cell therapy in brain tumours. It found that human plasma diluted 1:200 in water could be used as a substitute to CSF. This new method was sensitive and accurately measured fludarabine in CSF.