Genotoxic Evaluation of Occupational Exposure to Antineoplastic Agents and its Association with Polymorphisms of Enzymes Involved in DNA Repair

Abstract The increased use of combined chemotherapy in the management of different kinds of neoplasms allows us to question the adverse biological effects of occupational exposure to antineoplastic drugs, and generate studies to visualize the potential toxicity of these substances on the affected staff. Over the last few years, several reports have provided evidence about the increased presence of abortions, malformations and risk of diseases like cancer in the hospital staff responsible for the preparation and administration of these drugs. For that reason it becomes necessary to implement new methodologies to assess the genotoxic potential of these substances. Because of its sensitivity to detect mainly single chain ruptures and al-alkali labile sites in individual cells, the alkaline comet essay is an inexpensive and rapid method to evaluate the effects of these substances on the DNA of occupationally exposed staff. The aim of this study was to evaluate DNA damage in a population of individuals employe...