Screen-Printed electrodes decorated with multi-walled carbon nanotubes: advancing sensor technology for anticancer drug palbociclib detection

Palbociclib (PLB) is a cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitor, applied clinically as an orally taken therapeutic drug for hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Here, the exploration of integrating carbon nanotubes into the electrochemical sensor for highly sensitive detection of PLB was studied by conducting experiments between the electrochemical behaviors of unmodified homemade screen-printed electrodes (SPEs) and those modified with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) for detection of PLB and sensor optimization. Results showed that MWCNTs-modified SPE exhibited the highest sensitivity and detection rate, and the optimal detection conditions were pH 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution with pH 7.4. Under optimal conditions, the sensor detected PLB with a detection limit (DL) of 0.00419 µM, a quantification limit (QL) of 0.0139 µM and showed a good linear relationship within the range of 1–10 µM (R2 = 0.99). In addition, the SPE showed good precision for reproducibility, with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 3.94%, and repeatability with an RSD of 4.86%. The practical applicability of the sensor was validated through recovery studies in human blood serum and urine samples, with good recovery values confirming its suitability for the clinical monitoring of PLB.