analytical methods for quantification of gemcitabine in pharmaceutical and biological samples: an overview of developments in the last decade

Gemcitabine is a potent cytotoxic agent classified as a pyrimidine nucleoside antimetabolite, widely used to treat various metastatic and prostatic cancers. approved by the fda in 1996, it is indicated for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, and breast cancer. advanced stages of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (ii, iii, or metastatic stage iv), where regional resection is no longer viable, gemcitabine often serves as the first-line treatment. functioning as a prodrug, gemcitabine requires phosphorylation by deoxycytidine kinase to become its active form within cells, enabling its therapeutic effects. extensive literature sourced from databases such as google scholar, taylor francis, science direct, and pubmed has documented various analytical methods for estimating gemcitabine, either as a standalone drug or in combination with other agents. these methods span techniques such as uv spectrophotometry, spectrofluorimetry, fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, high-performance liquid chromatography (hplc), high-performance thin-layer chromatography (hptlc), and advanced hyphenated techniques. in addition, this review evaluates the greenness profiles of reported analytical methods (2003-2023) based on the national environmental method index (nemi), aligning with the sustainable development goals (sdgs) 2030. the findings emphasize the importance of developing more robust, efficient, and eco-friendly methods, particularly through sorbent-based microextraction techniques, which could significantly enhance biomedical research. this review provides a valuable roadmap for researchers, encouraging the adoption of greener analytical approaches using eco-friendly solvents for the gemcitabine determination in biological matrices and drug products.