Abstract
As medicine continues to advance our understanding of and knowledge about the complex and multifactorial nature of cancer, new major technological challenges have emerged in the design of analytical methods capable of characterizing and assessing the dynamic heterogeneity of cancer for diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring, as required by precision medicine. With this aim, novel nanotechnological approaches have been pursued and developed for overcoming intrinsic and current limitations of conventional methods in terms of rapidity, sensitivity, multiplicity, non-invasive procedures and cost. Eminently, a special focus has been put on their implementation in liquid biopsy analysis. Among optical nanosensors, those based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) have been attracting tremendous attention due to the combination of the intrinsic prerogatives of the technique (e.g., sensitivity and structural specificity) and the high degree of refinement in nano-manufacturing, which translate into reliable and robust real-life applications. In this review, we categorize the diverse strategic approaches of SERS biosensors for targeting different classes of tumor biomarkers (cells, nucleic acids and proteins) by illustrating key recent research works. We will also discuss the current limitations and future research challenges to be addressed to improve the competitiveness of SERS over other methodologies in cancer medicine.
Highlights
The remarkable phenotypic, genetic and morphological heterogeneity of cancer poses critical challenges at precisely describing and characterizing the disease in a given current state
We present the main strategic approaches undertaken for the implementation of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensors in cancer diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring
SERS has demonstrated its tremendous potential as a biomedical analytical tool for tackling the increasingly diverse and complex challenges of cancer research
Summary
The remarkable phenotypic, genetic and morphological heterogeneity of cancer poses critical challenges at precisely describing and characterizing the disease in a given current state. As single-biomarker tumor discrimination typically fails to provide an accurate classification of the disease as required by clinicians, the current focus on applied cancer research is the development of sensitive analytical tools for the rapid and cost-effective multidimensional characterization of a panel of biomarkers to yield a unique molecular signature of the malignancy [2,3]. Cancers 2019, 11, 748 from molecules located in close proximity to the metallic surface This effect yields an ultrasensitive plasmon-enhanced spectroscopic technique which retains the intrinsic structural specificity and experimental flexibility of Raman spectroscopy [10]. SERS is typically implemented in place of, or in combination with, fluorescence spectroscopy to address key limitations of such established technique. Special focus is devoted to the application of SERS imaging to tumor tissues and identification of cancer-related materials in biological fluids (liquid biopsy)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 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 callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
