A breakthrough low-cost biosensor has been developed to detect lung cancer biomarkers quickly and accurately.
It provides surgeons and oncologists with a potential game-changer for early diagnosis and treatment planning.
The innovative sensor, designed to work similarly to glucose monitoring devices, offers results from a simple blood test within 40 minutes.
It could enable clinicians to identify at-risk patients earlier, allowing for prompt interventions and more personalised treatment strategies.
A research team at Cranfield University, including Dr Iva Chianella, Professor Sam Tothill, and former PhD student Mahdi Arabnejad, developed the biosensor over three years. It screens for two key lung cancer biomarkers: carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and neuron-specific enolase (NSE).
These biomarkers are well-established indicators of lung cancer, particularly in cases of non-small cell and small cell lung carcinoma.
It demonstrated that the device successfully detects these biomarkers at clinically significant levels.
In human serum samples, the biosensor identified CEA and NSE at detection limits of 0.76 ng/mL and 0.52 ng/mL, respectively – both well below the critical thresholds of 5 ng/mL for CEA and 12 ng/mL for NSE used in clinical diagnostics.
Implications for Surgeons and Oncologists
The rapid and cost-effective nature of this device makes it an attractive option for early screening in high-risk populations, such as smokers and those with a family history of lung cancer.
Additionally, the sensor could be a valuable tool for monitoring treatment response in patients undergoing chemotherapy or immunotherapy, providing real-time feedback on disease progression.
Dr Chianella said: ‘Current lung cancer screening tests can be expensive and time-consuming. Although still in early stages, this sensor is promising to improve early detection, leading to quicker interventions and better survival rates.’
With its strong laboratory test performance, the next phase involves clinical trials to validate the biosensor’s accuracy in real-world hospital settings.
If successful, this technology could soon be integrated into routine clinical practice, offering surgeons, oncologists, and pulmonologists a fast, reliable, and cost-effective tool for diagnosing and tracking lung cancer.
The authors concluded: ’Low-cost, disposable, and simple devices enabling the facile point-of-care quantification of serum cancer biomarkers would enable early detection of lung cancer as well as monitoring its treatment.’
The study is published in Biosensors.
