Safe Administration of Mitomycin in Bladder Instillation for Cancer: A Pilot Study

ABSTRACT The treatment of non‐muscle invasive bladder cancer patients with intravesical mitomycin‐C reduces the chances of tumor recurrence. Mitomycin‐C is a hazardous drug and should be handled and administered safely by healthcare workers. Recently, a new ready‐to‐use administration system for mitomycin‐C has been developed. However, no research compares the healthcare workers' occupational exposure to mitomycin‐C during its administration using the conventional administration system versus the new administration system. The aim of this study was to compare the occupational exposure of healthcare workers to mitomycin‐C between two mitomycin‐C administration systems. This quasi‐experimental pilot study compared environmental contamination of mitomycin‐C between the conventional ( n = 6) and the new ( n = 6) administration system in a nursing ward and outpatient clinic. Surface wipe samples were taken from four locations where spillage could have occurred ( n = 48). The data were analyzed using a two‐sample t ‐test. Mitomycin‐C traces were found in two samples that exceeded the lower limit of quantification (0.09 and 0.14 ng/cm 2 ). Both samples were from healthcare workers' gloves using the conventional administration system. No statistically significant difference was found when comparing the two systems ( p = 0.18). The results indicate that both systems are safe to use in inpatient and outpatient clinical settings. Given that the new system is safe, this point‐of‐care preparation product may offer advantages for both the urology and hospital pharmacy departments.