Biosensors: the new wave in cancer diagnosis

Brian Bohunicky¹, Shaker A Mousa^1,2
1The Pharmaceutical Research Institute at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Rensselaer, NY, USA; ²College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract: The earlier cancer can be detected, the better the chance of a cure. Currently, many cancers are diagnosed only after they have metastasized throughout the body. Effective, accurate methods of cancer detection and clinical diagnosis are urgently needed. Biosensors are devices that are designed to detect a specific biological analyte by essentially converting a biological entity (ie, protein, DNA, RNA) into an electrical signal that can be detected and analyzed. The use of biosensors in cancer detection and monitoring holds vast potential. Biosensors can be designed to detect emerging cancer biomarkers and to determine drug effectiveness at various target sites. Biosensor technology has the potential to provide fast and accurate detection, reliable imaging of cancer cells, and monitoring of angiogenesis and cancer metastasis, and the ability to determine the effectiveness of anticancer chemotherapy agents. This review will briefly summarize the current obstacles to early detection of cancer and the expanding use of biosensors as a diagnostic tool, as well as some future applications of biosensor technology.

Keywords: biosensor, oncogene, nanotechnology, biotechnology, cancer detection, diagnosis, point-of-care