Current Biosensors Used for Early Detection of Lung Cancer Biomarkers

Abstract

Cancer, the abnormal and uncontrolled cell growth due to an accumulation of specific genetic and epigenetic defects, has posed a particular threat to human health which makes it to be ranked third in Kenya as a cause of death after infectious and cardiovascular diseases. The unregulated cell growth leads to the formation of a tumor, which after some period of time spreads beyond the site of origin and metastasizes to other body organs and systems, making it incurable. Early detection of cancer (long before the tumor is perceived) greatly increases the chance of curability, and is the point of focus for many cancer researchers. Lung cancer is the primary cancer threatening human life worldwide and its mortality rate has not decreased for a number of years. The mortality rate can be reduced by early diagnosis and subsequent treatment, for example if the serum proteins, microRNA, tumor-associated antigens, are detected in elevated amounts in the blood of potential lung cancer patients using a highly sensitive biosensor. Throughout the years, researchers worldwide have extensively investigated many screening modalities for lung cancer detection, including chest radiograph (CRG), computed tomography (CT), low-dose CT (LDCT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET) and biopsy. However, these techniques are not suitable for patients with other pathologies. Developing a rapid and sensitive technique for early diagnosis of lung cancer plays an important role in early diagnosis and subsequent treatment. The typical methodologies limit the applications due to the low selectivity, low sensitivity, high cost, low stability and invasive procedure. Tumor markers as biochemical parameters can reveal cancer occurrence and progression, which show selectivity, stability sensitivity, convenience, and low cost in developing biosensors, and act as good prospect for fabricating biosensors of detecting lung cancer. This review portrays several biosensors (2010-2019) for detection of lung cancer biomarkers. To start with, cancer in general and Lung cancer has been briefly described focusing on the screening methods that have been used for lung cancer. The currently used diagnostic tools for lung cancer with their advantages and disadvantages is also portrayed. overview of the application of transducers used, including optical, mass-based, electrochemical and calorimetric biosensors, in lung cancer detection, together with the advantages and disadvantages of the development of new biosensors. Finally, the recent challenges and further opportunities for developing effective biosensors for early diagnosis of lung cancer are discussed.