Rapid quantification of human urinary estrogens and estrogen metabolites by HPLC mass spectrometry

Abstract Estrogens and estrogen metabolites have different biological properties and the individual patterns of estrogen metabolism may influence the risk of breast cancer. A rapid, sensitive and accurate HPLC-MS method for simultaneously measuring estrogens and metabolites in urine samples has been developed and validated. The method was validated and applied for analysis of breast cancer patients. Compared with previous methods, this method greatly reduces analysis time and allows for simultaneous measurement of human urinary estrogens and metabolites within 10 min for the first time. It is perfectly suitable for commercial diagnostic laboratory use due to its sensitivity, specificity and high throughput.