Low-Cost, Fast Response Sensor Enables Early and Accurate Detection of Lung Cancer

Cancer biomarkers are valuable tools for early diagnosis as their concentration in body fluids, such as serum, can be measured to detect the disease at an earlier stage. Additionally, serum levels of these biomarkers can change as cancer treatment progresses, allowing for monitoring that helps adjust treatment doses and assess its effectiveness, thus enabling precision medicine that can improve patient outcomes. However, the detection and quantification of cancer biomarkers are typically expensive, time-consuming, and require highly trained personnel, limiting these processes to specialized laboratory settings. In contrast, point-of-care testing (POCT) is recognized for its ability to speed up diagnosis, optimize patient care, and reduce healthcare costs. Biosensors, which are low-cost, non-invasive (or minimally invasive) devices, are ideal for POCT, offering a way to measure biomarkers' concentrations and enabling early cancer detection and therapy monitoring.

Researchers from Cranfield University (Cranfield, UK) have developed a new, low-cost, and fast-response sensor to detect lung cancer biomarkers, paving the way for screening tools that could detect the disease even before symptoms appear. Similar to the design of glucose monitoring devices, the sensor provides results from a blood sample in just 40 minutes. This innovative technology, featured in the journal Biosensors, has the potential to assist clinicians in identifying patients at higher risk for lung cancer and in tailoring treatments for those already diagnosed, thus facilitating a ‘precision medicine’ approach. Over the course of a three-year research project, the team created the sensors to screen for two key lung cancer biomarkers in a blood sample and successfully demonstrated the concept in a laboratory setting.

Their study focused on developing highly sensitive sensors for two primary lung cancer biomarkers: neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). The sensors were tested with both buffer and human samples and achieved clinically relevant detection limits for both biomarkers. The findings suggest that this technology holds considerable promise as a valuable tool for the early and accurate detection of lung cancer. The rapid and straightforward test enables clinical staff to identify individuals at higher risk of lung cancer and refer them for further diagnostic testing. This proactive strategy supports early detection, which can lead to improved outcomes. Furthermore, the test can be utilized during treatment to monitor how chemotherapy or other therapies are impacting the cancer.

“At the moment lung cancer screening tests can be expensive and take a long time,” said Dr. Iva Chianella, Senior Lecturer in Bio-sensors and Functional Polymers. “Although it’s early stages, the sensor we have developed holds great promise of early detection, which can lead to prompt treatments with higher patients’ survival rates.”