Affinity bioelectroanalysis in cellular-level biomarker driven modern precision cancer diagnosis

The increasingly prominent role played by precision, equitable and sustainable diagnosis, particularly of prevalent and highly heterogeneous diseases, based on the determination and characterization of bio-markers of cellular origin in liquid biopsy, such as whole cells, their secretomes and the exosomes they release, is unquestionable. Electrochemical biosensing and biosensors, mainly those involving affinity reactions, have emerged in recent years as competitive analytical alternatives to address these chal-lenging targets versus other existing strategies in terms of simplicity, cost and compatibility with mul-tiplexed or multi-omics point-of-care determinations. This review article aims to put on the table in a concise, accurate and updated way the fundamentals, versatility and opportunities provided by state-of-the-art electrochemical biosensing (2018e2022) for the determination of these cellular-derived bio-markers. A more critical and personal view of the challenges to be faced in the shorter term and where future research and advances are expected to go is also given.(c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

The role of liquid biopsy in precision, equitable, and sustainable diagnosis of prevalent and highly heterogeneous diseases using biomarkers derived from whole cells, secretomes, and exosomes is undeniable. Electrochemical biosensing and biosensors, particularly those involving affinity reactions, have emerged as competitive and cost-effective analytical alternatives for identifying these challenging targets. This review provides a concise and up-to-date overview of the fundamentals, versatility, and opportunities offered by state-of-the-art electrochemical biosensing (2018-2022) for the determination of cellular-derived biomarkers. It also offers critical insights into the short-term challenges and future research directions in this field.