Assessing the risk to health care staff from long-term exposure to anticancer drugs--the case of monoclonal antibodies.

Today the occupational health and safety risk involved when handling most anticancer drugs is well recognized and, as a result of regulatory requirements, safety measures have been established. There is little knowledge about the occupational hazard posed by handling monoclonal antibodies assigned to ATC Class L01XC. The aim of our study was to evaluate the occupational risk of monoclonal antibodies. Using the information obtained in a systematic review of the literature, the potentially dangerous properties of the active drug substances were assessed using a specially devised algorithm. As a result, all monoclonal antibodies in question were categorized as substances with developmental to…