Analytical SERS for liquid biopsy biomarkers detection

Considerable research effort has been dedicated to devising analytical techniques for cancer diagnosis and monitoring of treatment progress and prognosis by tracking a range of cancer biomarkers including circulating tumour cells (CTCs), small extracellular vehicles (sEVs), circulating nucleic acids, RNA and DNA, and specific proteins, primarily in blood. These analyses are collectively referred to as liquid biopsies. Due to the low abundance of such biomarkers in the blood there is an urgent need to establish swift and dependable assays for gauging their presence and quantity within patient samples. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has garnered substantial attention for this purpose owing to its unique advantages of high sensitivity, specificity, multiplexing capability, and photostability. Therefore, SERS has been widely used in many applications, among which analytical SERS has been the focus in recent years. In this book chapter, we provide an overview of recent developments (within the last 5 years) in analytical SERS for liquid biopsy biomarkers detection. We also provide our insights into the forthcoming challenges in the realm of SERS applications for biomarkers detection towards cancer diagnosis.