Electrochemical evaluation of nivolumab used in cancer treatment with differential pulse voltammetry: A novel approach with single-use pencil graphite electrode.

Objectives: Nivolumab is used in a treatment called immunotherapy, which helps the immune system cells to attack cancer cells. The electrochemical properties and quantification of this drug were performed using single-use pencil tips.

Evidence acquisition: Here, a selective voltammetric method for the determination and electrochemical characterization of Nivolumab used in cancer therapy was developed for the first time using a disposable pencil electrode by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry techniques. Nivolumab exhibited an anodic signal at +0.879 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in PBS (pH 3.0, 0.02 M NaCl) medium.

Results: This procedure showed a linear response in phosphate buffer solutions (pH 3.0, 0.02 M NaCl) media within the concentration range of 0.01 mg mL^-1 to 0.07 mg mL^-1 and limit of detection and the limit of quantification values were determined to be 2.49 μg mL^-1 and 8.30 μg mL^-1, respectively.

Conclusions: The developed method offers an important analytical approach for the detection and characterization of NIVO. Precisely measuring and monitoring the levels of such drugs in real sample analyses or biological samples is critical for evaluating response to treatment, optimizing treatment strategies. Therefore, the method was applied to real sample analyses. Voltammetric results developed using PG electrode were compared with UV-Vis results. It has been determined that the results obtained are compatible with each other.