Device capable of detecting early stages of cancer

THE SCARY C-WORD

Cancer. Also known as the second leading cause of death in the world, following cardiovascular disease. In 2020, cancer claimed over 600,000 lives in the US alone. A study done on the epidemiology of cancer found that the most commonly diagnosed forms of cancer include female breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, and cutaneous melanoma. However, early detection is noted to increase the chances of survival in lung, prostate, female breast, uterine/cervical, and colorectal cancers (Schwartz, 2024). For some, this may not seem that significant but for others, it is another Christmas spent with a loved one.

THE DIAGNOSIS

In a clinical setting, a Physician will often perform a physical exam to examine for lumps or bumps that could indicate the presence of cancer. If the provider has suspicion that the lump is malignant, they recommend lab tests, imaging and or a biopsy can confirm these suspicions. However, diagnostic tests like biopsies can be very invasive and costly for the average patient. In addition, the time spent determining diagnoses can drastically affect survival rate. Systematic reviews of breast cancer research that a delay of 3-6 months was correlated with decreased survival rates (Neal et al., 2015). Therefore, early detection and diagnosis time is critical in improving overall survival.

THE SOLUTION

Researchers have developed a novel portable nano electrochemical dual immunosensor that can detect elevated markers for various forms of cancer such as ovarian, bone, breast and gastric cancers early on. Generally, electrochemical immunosensors are a part of a broader category of electrochemical biosensors, or devices that can measure the Biologic interaction between two molecules, but this device new can instead monitor specific reactions between antigens and antibodies. It works by selecting the biomarker of interest and measuring the binding to a specific molecular recognition element such as an antibody or enzyme. This binding complex can be converted into a signal that can be measured by the device in a relatively short time span (Zhang et al., 2021). Therefore, if levels of a biomarker, such as CA19-9 are high, it could indicate rapidly progressing pancreatic cancer and the device would be able to detect it with high precision and accuracy. This would reduce the need for procedures like invasive biopsies.

Typical structure of an Antibody

HOW IS IT MADE?

In research focused on gastric cancer, investigators chose two primary antibodies CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen) and cancer antigen 72-4 (CA72-4). The secondary antibodies, Anti-Thymocyte Globulin (ATG) and Anti-Fibronectin Antibody (AFW) were labeled with Anti-CEA secondary antibody (CEA-Ab2) and Anti-CA72-4 secondary antibody (CA72-4-Ab2). The device uses these as nano signal probes made from gold nanoparticles and other metallic nanoparticles that have excellent binding to biomolecules, such as antibodies as the sensing interface. Gold is also known to be a conductive metal which allows for the generation of an electrical signal when the sensor detects the relative biomarker. Graphene oxide is also used to improve the electric properties of the sensor such as reducing noise, improving overall sensor sensitivity. The device utilizes the combination of dual nano-probes which help amplify the signal produced by the sensor. Overall, they reported that this immunosensor allowed for simultaneous monitoring of CEA and CA72-4. The device exhibited reproducible results, high sensitivity and selectivity (Su et al., 2025). 

BUT HOW RELIABLE IS IT?

In a study conducted on breast cancer the device sensor showed a detection limit of 0.26 fg/mL for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and 0.28 fg/mL for mucin 1 (MUC1), both clinically important oncogenes that play critical roles in the development of cancer (Sawy et al., 2025). Typically, HER2 and MUC1 are expressed in low levels in various tissues, but an overexpression of these genes above a certain threshold can indicate breast cancer. As the cancer progresses in severity, it can be correlated with a continuous increase in the amount of clinically relevant biomarkers. Therefore, the device is also able to determine how far the cancer has progressed relative to the amount of biomarker present in the sample. In studies on ovarian cancer detection, the device demonstrated an excellent limit of detection, meaning it could reliably identify very low concentrations of cancer biomarkers. The reliability of the sensor was validated through the use of standard addition recovery method and was then compared to an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The trials showed the device had an impressive detection time of 20 minutes, high selectivity to the biomarker of interest and repeatable, reliable results. (Pakchin et al., 2020). 

CONCLUSION

The novel development of a portable electrochemical immunosensor has been used to measure the amount of biomarkers in patients with different types of cancer, allowing them to have rapid diagnosis and faster access to treatment. Although this method is currently only done in research setting it is likely that within the next 5 years more advanced devises based on these principles will be utilized, improving overall cancer patient's survival rate. In addition to time costs, diagnostic procedures can often be invasive and costly. With reproducible, reliable and fast results, electrochemical immunosensors will have a major role in the future of cancer treatment. 

Written by Victoria Randall, BS, and edited by Aldrin V. Gomes, PhD

References

Schwartz S. M. (2024). Epidemiology of Cancer. Clinical chemistry, 70(1), 140–149. https://doi.org/10.1093/clinchem/hvad202

Sawy, A. M., Anis, B., Cui, S., & Hassan, R. Y. A. (2025). Using Ru-PdO@MXenes-Nanostructured Electrochemical Immunosensing System for Selective Detection of Multiple Breast Biomarkers (HER2 and MUC1). ACS applied biomaterials, 10.1021/acsabm.5c00452. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsabm.5c00452

Zhang, Z., Peng, M., Li, D., Yao, J., Li, Y., Wu, B., Wang, L., & Xu, Z. (2021). Carbon Material Based Electrochemical Immunosensor for Gastric Cancer Markers Detection. Frontiers in chemistry, 9, 736271. https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2021.736271

Samadi Pakchin, P., Fathi, M., Ghanbari, H., Saber, R., & Omidi, Y. (2020). A novel electrochemical immunosensor for ultrasensitive detection of CA125 in ovarian cancer. Biosensors & bioelectronics, 153, 112029. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2020.112029

Neal, R. D., Tharmanathan, P., France, B., Din, N. U., Cotton, S., Fallon-Ferguson, J., Hamilton, W., Hendry, A., Hendry, M., Lewis, R., Macleod, U., Mitchell, E. D., Pickett, M., Rai, T., Shaw, K., Stuart, N., Tørring, M. L., Wilkinson, C., Williams, B., Williams, N., … Emery, J. (2015). Is increased time to diagnosis and treatment in symptomatic cancer associated with poorer outcomes? Systematic review. British journal of cancer, 112 Suppl 1(Suppl 1), S92–S107. https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2015.48

Su, L. T., Yang, Z. Q., Peng, H. P., & Liu, A. L. (2025). A Dual Nano-Signal Probe-Based Electrochemical Immunosensor for the Simultaneous Detection of Two Biomarkers in Gastric Cancer. Biosensors, 15(2), 80. https://doi.org/10.3390/bios15020080