CFC: DNA sensor for anthracycline antitumor drug content in biological samples

Main article: Cancer treatment

2025: Presentation

Scientists have developed a high-precision sensor based on graphene oxide and a polymer dye, which allows you to determine the content of anthracycline antitumor drugs in biological samples. The Russian Scientific Foundation (RNF) announced this on July 2, 2025.

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Фото: Anna Porfirieva

Drugs of this type are used for, and cancer treatment blood skin neoplasms in the connective tissue, but harm the cardiovascular system, which is why their dosage must be strictly controlled. The device allows you to detect even minimal concentrations of drugs in the blood and urine, which will be useful for personalized dosage selection and reducing side effects from therapy.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in people around the world. So, according to WHO statistics, in 2022, malignant formations claimed the lives of almost 10 million people. To treat various types of these diseases, including blood and skin cancers, anthracycline drugs are used that disrupt the division of cancer cells and therefore prevent the progression of the disease.

Despite the effectiveness, these drugs have serious side effects, in particular, they can lead to heart failure and other disorders of the cardiovascular system. To minimize the risks to patients, doctors must precisely monitor the concentration of anthracycline drugs in the body, but existing analysis methods - like liquid chromatography - require expensive equipment and lengthy sample preparation. Therefore, scientists are looking for other approaches.

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Фото: Anna Porfirieva

Researchers from Kazan (Volga) Federal University (Kazan) have developed a highly sensitive DNA sensor to determine the content of anthracycline antitumor drugs in biological samples.

The authors took as a basis a composite material consisting of reduced graphene oxide and a polyproflavin dye capable of interacting with DNA. Such material was synthesized in a solvent consisting of citric acid, glucose and water. The mixture refers to deep eutectic solvents - environmentally safe and non-toxic solvents that are formed by hydrogen bonds between components and have a low melting point.

The authors applied the resulting material to electrodes - current conducting elements - and then "fixed" DNA molecules on them, which were necessary for binding anthracycline preparations.

The scientists tested the sensor by applying small volumes of solutions with a pre-known content of anthracycline drugs to the surface of the electrodes. In addition, the authors tested how the device works in complex biological environments - in a fluid that mimics the composition of human urine, and in real urine.

When DNA came into contact with the drug, the sensor signal changed, and scientists recorded this using a special device. Moreover, the more drug molecules contained in the analyzed sample, the stronger the signal change was.

Experiments have shown that the device detects anthracycline drugs at concentrations much lower than those used in anti-cancer therapies. At the same time, the sensor remained functional when analyzing real urine samples, which indicates the possibility of its use in clinical practice.

The sensor we developed is easy to use and allows analysis without complex equipment, which is important for medical diagnostics. It will allow doctors to promptly adjust the dose of anticancer drugs in the treatment of cancer and reduce the risk of complications. In the future, we plan to expand a number of analyzed drugs and improve the approach to creating modifying materials in order to make sensors more miniature and sensitive, as well as study the possibility of their commercial implementation, "said Anna Porfirieva, Candidate of Chemical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Analytical Chemistry of Kazan Federal University.