Titanium dioxide nanoparticle-modified screen-printed electrode for erlotinib determination.

Abstract

Background and purpose: Erlotinib (ERL), a first-generation epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor drug that is used in non-small cell lung cancer treatment, requires precise therapeutic drug monitoring owing to its narrow therapeutic window and significant inter-patient pharmacokinetic variability; existing chromatographic methods, while robust, are resource-intensive and incompatible with point-of-care settings, necessitating the development of simpler, cost-effective electroanalytical alternatives.

Experimental approach: A titanium dioxide nanoparticle-modified screen-printed electrode (TiO₂NP@SPE) was fabricated via a facile single-step modification and comprehensively characterized by scanning electron microscopy - energy dispersive X-ray Analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; electrochemical performance was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry, and analytical validation was performed in human serum using the standard addition method.

Key results: The TiO₂NP@SPE demonstrated markedly enhanced electron transfer kinetics over the bare SPE, yielding a well-defined linear response with a competitive limit of detection, high sensitivity, and intra- and inter-day serum recoveries within acceptable precision limits, alongside excellent selectivity against physiologically relevant interferents and structurally related anticancer agents.

Conclusion: This work developed a disposable screen-printed electrode sufficient to achieve sensitive, selective, and accurate quantification of ERL in human serum using TiO₂NP@SPE as a promising, clinically translatable platform for point-of-care therapeutic drug monitoring in oncology; future efforts should address the elevated detection limit relative to the bare electrode and extend validation to real patient plasma samples to fully confirm clinical applicability.