Comparison of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with quantitative neutron capture radiography for the determination of boron in biological samples from cancer therapy

A boron-containing compound was administered to tumor-bearing mice and the time-dependent concentration was determined by ICP-AES, ICP-MS and quantitative neutron capture radiography (QNCR). The atomic spectrometric procedures were optimized to minimize analyte losses during microwave digestion. Non-spectroscopic interferences were investigated in detail and appropriate internal standards were established for ICP-MS. The best detection limits achieved for boron were 30 ng ml^-1 by ICP-AES and 0.3 ng ml^-1 by ICP-MS. The respective determination limits in the digested and diluted tissue samples were 0.4 μg ml^-1 and 3 ng ml^-1. The results of the spectrometric determinations were confirmed by QNCR of whole-body cryosections of six mice. A brief description of the metabolism of the boron compound is given.