# Dual-Biosensor for Five Drugs Detection in Precision Oncology

**Authors:** Francesca Rodino, Myriam Briki, Thierry Buclin, Monia Guidi, Sandro Carrara

PMC · DOI: 10.1007/s12668-026-02506-8 · 2026-03-19

## TL;DR

A new dual-biosensor platform can detect five chemotherapy drugs at once, enabling personalized cancer treatment with real-time, cost-effective monitoring.

## Contribution

A novel dual-biosensor platform using MWCNTs and enzymes for simultaneous detection of five chemotherapeutic drugs in precision oncology.

## Key findings

- The dual-biosensor uses two electrodes to detect five drugs simultaneously with high sensitivity and selectivity.
- Integration of CYP3A4 and CYP2B6 enzymes enhances electron transfer and substrate specificity for accurate drug detection.
- The platform is portable, rapid, and suitable for point-of-care therapeutic drug monitoring in oncology.

## Abstract

The increasing demand for precision medicine, particularly in oncology, requires innovative solutions to address patient-specific inter-individual variability in drug response. Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is crucial for optimizing treatment efficacy and minimizing toxic side effects, enabling precise dosage adjustments tailored to the patient’s individual metabolic profile. Electrochemical biosensors offer a cost-effective, simple, and portable solution with rapid response times, making them ideal for point-of-care applications. In this work, we propose a novel dual-biosensor platform for TDM, designed to simultaneously detect multiple chemotherapeutic agents–cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, etoposide, methotrexate, and 5-fluorouracil–for precision oncology. Following real clinical treatment scenarios, the system uses only two working electrodes integrated into a single electrochemical sensing platform, significantly reducing complexity and cost. By integrating MWCNTs with cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYP3A4 and CYP2B6), our platform achieves enhanced electron transfer and substrate specificity, enabling sensitive and selective detection of the five chemotherapeutic drugs, individually and in combination, within clinically relevant ranges. Designed for portability and rapid analysis, this dual-biosensor platform enables real-time, cost-effective drug monitoring at the point-of-care, advancing personalized cancer treatment with greater precision and accessibility.

## Linked entities

- **Proteins:** CYP3A4 (cytochrome P450 family 3 subfamily A member 4), CYP2B6 (cytochrome P450 family 2 subfamily B member 6)
- **Chemicals:** cyclophosphamide (PubChem CID 2907), ifosfamide (PubChem CID 3690), etoposide (PubChem CID 36462), methotrexate (PubChem CID 4112), 5-fluorouracil (PubChem CID 3385)
- **Diseases:** cancer (MONDO:0004992)

## Full-text entities

- **Genes:** CYP2B6 (cytochrome P450 family 2 subfamily B member 6) [NCBI Gene 1555] {aka CPB6, CYP2B, CYP2B7, CYPIIB6, EFVM, IIB1}, CYP4F3 (cytochrome P450 family 4 subfamily F member 3) [NCBI Gene 4051] {aka CPF3, CYP4F, CYPIVF3, LTB4H}, CYP3A4 (cytochrome P450 family 3 subfamily A member 4) [NCBI Gene 1576] {aka CP33, CP34, CYP3A, CYP3A3, CYPIIIA3, CYPIIIA4}
- **Diseases:** cancer (MESH:D009369)
- **Chemicals:** methotrexate (MESH:D008727), ifosfamide (MESH:D007069), etoposide (MESH:D005047), cyclophosphamide (MESH:D003520), MWCNTs (-), 5-fluorouracil (MESH:D005472)
- **Species:** Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]

## Figures

7 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC13002735/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC13002735