Modern Assay Techniques for Cancer Drugs: Electroanalytical and Liquid Chromatography Methods

Electrochemistry as a Powerful Tool for Investigations of Antineoplastic Agents: A Comprehensive Review

Cancer is most frequently treated with antineoplastic agents (ANAs) that are hazardous to patients undergoing chemotherapy and the healthcare workers who handle ANAs in the course of their duties. All aspects related to hazardous oncological drugs illustrate that the monitoring of ANAs is essential to minimize the risks associated with these drugs. Among all analytical techniques used to test ANAs, electrochemistry holds an important position. This review, for the first time, comprehensively describes the progress done in electrochemistry of ANAs by means of a variety of bare or modified (bio)sensors over the last four decades (in the period of 1982-2021). Attention is paid not only to the development of electrochemical sensing protocols of ANAs in various biological, environmental, and pharmaceutical matrices but also to achievements of electrochemical techniques in the examination of the interactions of ANAs with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), carcinogenic cells, biomimetic membranes, peptides, and enzymes. Other aspects, including the enantiopurity studies, differentiation between single-stranded and double-stranded DNA without using any label or tag, studies on ANAs degradation, and their pharmacokinetics, by means of electrochemical techniques are also commented. Finally, concluding remarks that underline the existence of a significant niche for the basic electrochemical research that should be filled in the future are presented.

Liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) methods for the therapeutic drug monitoring of cytotoxic anticancer drugs: An update

In the era of precision medicine, there is increasing evidence that conventional cytotoxic agents may be suitable candidates for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM)- guided drug dosage adjustments and patient's tailored personalization of non-selective chemotherapies. To that end, many liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assays have been developed for the quantification of conventional cytotoxic anticancer chemotherapies, that have been comprehensively and critically reviewed. The use of stable isotopically labelled internal standards (IS) of cytotoxic drugs was strikingly uncommon, accounting for only 48 % of the methods found, although their use could possible to suitably circumvent patients' samples matrix effects variability. Furthermore, this approach would increase the reliability of cytotoxic drug quantification in highly multi-mediated cancer patients with complex fluctuating pathophysiological and clinical conditions. LC-MS/MS assays can accommodate multiplexed analyses of cytotoxic drugs with optimal selectivity and specificity as well as short analytical times and, when using stable-isotopically labelled IS for quantification, provide concentrations measurements with a high degree of certainty. However, there are still organisational, pharmacological, and medical constraints to tackle before TDM of cytotoxic drugs can be more largely adopted in the clinics for contributing to our ever-lasting quest to improve cancer treatment outcomes.

Overview of therapeutic drug monitoring and clinical practice

With the rapid development of clinical pharmacy in China, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) has become an essential tool for guiding rational clinical drug use and is widely concerned. TDM is a tool that combines pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic knowledge to optimize personalized drug therapy, which can improve treatment outcomes, reduce drug-drug toxicity, and avoid the risk of developing drug resistance. To effectively implement TDM, accurate and sophisticated analytical methods are required. By researching the literature published in recent years, we summarize the types of commonly monitored drugs, therapeutic windows, and clinical assays and track the trends and hot spots of therapeutic drug monitoring. The purpose is to provide guidelines for clinical blood drug concentration monitoring, to implement individualized drug delivery programs better, to ensure the rational use of drugs for patients, and to provide a reference for the group to carry out related topics in the future.

Precision Oncology by Point-of-Care Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Dosage Adjustment of Conventional Cytotoxic Chemotherapies: A Perspective

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of conventional cytotoxic chemotherapies is strongly supported yet poorly implemented in daily practice in hospitals. Analytical methods for the quantification of cytotoxic drugs are instead widely presented in the scientific literature, while the use of these therapeutics is expected to keep going for longer. There are two main issues hindering the implementation of TDM: turnaround time, which is incompatible with the dosage profiles of these drugs, and exposure surrogate marker, namely total area under the curve (AUC). Therefore, this perspective article aims to define the adjustment needed from current to efficient TDM practice for cytotoxics, namely point-of-care (POC) TDM. For real-time dose adjustment, which is required for chemotherapies, such POC TDM is only achievable with analytical methods that match the sensitivity and selectivity of current methods, such as chromatography, as well as model-informed precision dosing platforms to assist the oncologist with dose fine-tuning based on quantification results and targeted intervals.

Portable solid-state sensor for therapeutic monitoring of an antineoplastic drug; vinblastine in human plasma

Potentiometric glassy carbon electrode for determination of vinblastine.