Dacomitinib, an irreversible pan-ErbB
tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting the human
epidermal growth factor receptor, is used for the treatment of metastatic
non-small cell lung cancer. To facilitate the investigations on its metabolism and other relevant studies, based on high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), a rapid and sensitive bioanalytical technique was established and fully validated for simultaneous quantification of
dacomitinib and its main metabolite in human plasma. The plasma samples were treated with
acetonitrile containing 0.1%
formic acid and the liquid supernatant was collected, dried and dissolved in
methanol-water-
formic acid (200:800:1, v/v) before injection. The chromatographic separation was performed on an ACE Excel C18 column (2.1 mm × 50.0 mm, i.d., 5 μm) by gradient elution with a mixture of
buffer (5 mM
ammonium acetate in 0.1%
formic acid) and
acetonitrile, serving as the mobile phase, with an overall run time of 4 min.
Dacomitinib, O-desmethyl
dacomitinib and IS were subsequently detected on an AB QTRAP 5500 mass spectrometer in positive ion and multiple reaction monitoring modes at the precursor-to-product transitions of m/z 470.4 → 385.0, m/z 456.0 → 370.9 and m/z 480.2 → 385.1, respectively. The accuracy and precision of determinations were guaranteed within the concentration ranges of 0.25-100 ng/mL for
dacomitinib and 0.20-80 ng/mL for O-desmethyl
dacomitinib. The intra- and inter-assay accuracy ranged from 92.00% to 104.50% and the intra- and inter-assay precision was less than 8.20% for each analyte. The method was validated and the relevant parameters, including selectivity, interference among analytes and internal standard, carry-over effect, dilution integrity, extraction recovery, matrix effect, and stability, all satisfied the requirements formulated by the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency. The clinical applicability of the fully-validated method was evaluated in medicated samples from patients on
dacomitinib.