Integrated low-cost biosensor for rapid and point-of-care cancer diagnosis

Abstract The point-of-care (POC) devices that can identify cancer biomarkers at the initial stages is the need of the hour to prevent cancer’s invasion and metastasis. Their rapid onsite detection abilities make it possible to monitor the cancer progression at different stages. The current methods of cancer diagnosis mostly rely on tissue biopsy and molecular imaging techniques (positron emission tomography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and optical imaging), are highly expensive, and require advanced clinical setups to carry out the tests. So the higher cost and unavailability of such facilities could be one of the main reasons responsible for the low survival rates in patients. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the delay in diagnosis is one of the major problems responsible for higher mortality in cancer patients in low- to middle-income countries. The POC devices can facilitate early diagnosis and reduce treatment costs. So the biosensor can be the future of cancer diagnosis due to its desired features like portability, low turnaround time, higher sensitivity, and specificity that can facilitate the diagnosis at early stages. The development of integrated low-cost biosensors is gaining the attention of researchers across the globe due to their importance in early cancer diagnosis. This chapter emphasizes such low-cost biosensors developed over the decades for the detection of cancer biomarkers (DNA, RNA, protein) to make the diagnosis more rapid, sensitive, specific, and affordable.