A fully validated method for simultaneous determination of icotinib, osimertinib, gefitinib and O-desmethyl gefitinib in human plasma using UPLC-MS/MS for therapeutic drug monitoring.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A few researches have reported the exposure-efficacy/toxicity relationships of epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs). On account of the large interpatient pharmacokinetic variability, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) seems promising for optimizing dosage regimen and improving treatment efficacy and safety. Therefore, a rapid and convenient ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the determination of icotinib, osimertinib, gefitinib and O-demesthyl gefitinib in human plasma for TDM.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Icotinib-D4 and osimertinib-13 CD3 were used as the internal standards (ISs). The samples were prepared by protein precipitation using acetonitrile. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a 40 ℃ Shimadzu Shim-pack Scepter C18-120 column (2.1 ×50 mm, 3.0 µm, Japan) by a Shimadzu 30 A solvent management system. Detection was carried out using a Shimadzu LC-MS 8050CL triple quadrupole mass spectrometer coupled with an electrospray ionization source in positive mode.

RESULTS: This analytical method was fully validated with selectivity, carry-over, linearity, lower limit of quantification, accuracy (from 92.68% to 106.62%) and precision (intra- and inter-day coefficients of variation ranged from 0.92% to 9.85%), matrix effect, extraction recovery, stability and dilution integrity. The calibration curves were developed to be within the concentration ranges of 200-4000 ng/mL for icotinib, 50-1000 ng/mL for osimertinib, gefitinib and O-desmethyl gefitinib in human plasma which meet the needs of routine TDM.

CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method was used in 100 patients with non-small cell lung cancer for monitoring plasma concentration of the mentioned EGFR-TKIs. The trough concentrations of ICO were distributed between 226.42 ng/mL and 3853.36 ng/mL, peak concentrations were between 609.20 ng/mL and 2191.54 ng/mL. The trough concentrations of OSI were distributed between 110.48 ng/mL and 1183.13 ng/mL. The trough concentrations of GEF were distributed between 117.71 ng/mL and 582.74 ng/mL, while DeGEF was distributed from 76.21 ng/mL to 1939.83 ng/mL with two less than 20 ng/mL. The results of therapeutic drug monitoring aimed to investigate exposure-efficacy/toxicity relationship and improve the efficacy and safety of targeted therapies.