Abstract
Tumor-derived extracellular vesicles have emerged as an alternative source of cancer biomarkers in liquid biopsies. Despite their clinical potential, traditional methods for isolation and analysis have hampered their translation into the clinic. The use of nanomaterial-based biosensors can speed up the development of analytical methods for quantifying extracellular vesicles in a specific, highly reproducible, robust, fast and inexpensive way. Here we review the utility of extracellular vesicles as a novel type of liquid biopsies and the recent advances in nanoparticle-based biosensors for their analysis. We aim to emphasise the limitations and challenges that hinder extracellular vesicle analysis using these biosensors and point out potential solutions.
Highlights
Introduction a Aragon Materials ScienceInstitute (ICMA), CSIC/University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
label free, High penetration advantages be prepared in advance
for semibe performed in low concentrated samples
Summary
Liquid biopsies of cancer are samples of biofluids such as blood or urine that are used for the analysis of cancer cells or cancer tissue-derived molecules.[15,16] Liquid biopsies have emerged as a very promising alternative to conventional tissue biopsies since they can be obtained in a noninvasive or minimally invasive way, avoiding the risks related to tissue sampling and allowing serial sampling during the course of disease They have been shown to reflect intratumoral heterogeneity better than tissue biopsies, and are suitable for longitudinal monitoring of cancer evolution and detection of resistance-conferring tumor cell subclones.[17] liquid biopsies have a potential utility for cancer diagnosis, detection of minimal residual disease, tracking tumor progression and predicting the emergence of chemoresistance.[18] The most common types of liquid biopsies are circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) or RNA (cfRNA) (Table 1).[19,20,21] CTC analyses range from the enumeration and immunophenotyping of CTCs to the single cell genomic, transcriptomic or proteomic profiling and tumor growth assays.[19,22] cfDNA can be exploited for the detection and quantification of tumor mutations, copy number variations and methylation markers,[21] whereas cfRNA can be used for the profiling of mRNAs and non-coding RNAs, and the identification. Tumor-educated platelets and tumor-derived EVs have emerged as an alternative source of cancer tissue-derived biomarkers in liquid biopsies.[18,22]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
