Anthracycline antibiotics detection using turn-off luminescent nanosensors

Anthracycline antibiotics (doxorubicin, daunorubicin, mitoxantrone, idarubicin, epirubicin, ect.) are widely used in chemotherapy of various diseases, effectively destroying cancer cells, but also affecting healthy cells and organs. Clinical monitoring of anthracycline antibiotics in biofluids is critical for optimization of therapy and minimization of side effects, since toxicity increases at too high concentrations, while desired chemotherapy effects may be reduced or lost at too low concentrations. The development of approaches based on the luminescence quenching of nanosensors makes it possible to develop simple fast inexpensive methods for monitoring anthracycline antibiotics on the basis of their intrinsic properties. The advantages of turn-off luminescence nanosensors are discussed, a closer look is given to the applications for anthracycline antibiotics analysis in biofluids with focus on their limitations. •Turn-off luminescent nanosensors are suitable for anthracycline antibiotics monitoring in biofluids during chemotherapy.•Anthracycline antibiotics features enable simple format of turn-off luminescent nanosensors.•FRET, PET and IFE are describing quenching mechanisms.•QDs, AuNCs, UCNPs, CDs as luminescent nanosensors.•The intrinsic emission of anthracycline antibiotics allows the use of different principles to evaluate analytical signals.