Electrochemical Biosensors for Cancer Biomarker Detection

Cancer is still one of the leading causes of death in the world. There are over 200 types of cancers currently known according to the National Cancer Institute. However, early diagnosis continues to be an important integral part of cancer treatment even though many advances in therapeutics have been made in the past decade. Quick diagnosis and early prevention are critical for the control of the disease status. Biomarkers are commonly indicative of a particular disease process and the cancer biomarkers are also widely used in oncology to help detecting the presence of various carcinomas. The detection of cancer biomarkers plays an important role in clinical diagnoses and evaluation of treatment for patients. Many immunoassay methods are developed for detection of cancer biomarkers. As the detection devices are normally viewed with high sensitivity, simple preparation and rapid response, electrochemical biosensors are increasingly used for the detection of cancer markers. This review describes the status, the latest research and trends of electrochemical sensors in the quantitation of cancer markers in recent years. In particular, the strategy to improve the sensitivities of the electrochemical biosensors by the aid of enzymatic amplification, nanoparticle amplification, ultilization of magnetic microspheres etc. is described herein. At last, we discuss some special features and limitations associated with the described systems that summarize the application and the development prospects of electrochemical immunoassay technology.