Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy for prostate cancer diagnosis: A review

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pdpdt.2021.102690Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Different spectroanalytical techniques for diagnosis of prostate cancer were highlighted.

  • The application of SERS as a diagnostic tool for prostate cancer was reviewed.

  • The use of different sample types for SERS diagnosis of prostate cancer was described.

  • Electrochemical-SERS method was described as a modern modality for cancer analysis.

Abstract

The present review focuses on the diagnosis of prostate cancer using surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. On the basis of literature search, SERS-based analysis for prostate cancer detection of different sample types is reported in the present study. Prostate cancer is responsible for nearly one-tenth of all cell cancer deaths among men. Significant efforts have been dedicated to establish precise and sensitive monitoring techniques to detect prostate cancer biomarkers in different types of body samples. Among the various spectro-analytical techniques investigated to achieve this objective, SERS spectroscopy has been proven as a promising approach that provides noticeable enhancements of the Raman sensitivity when the target biomolecules interact with a nanostructured surface. The purpose of this review is to give a brief overview of the SERS-basedapproach and other spectro-analytical strategies being used for the detection and quantification of prostate cancer biomarkers. The revolutionary development of SERS methods for the diagnosis of prostate cancer has been discussed in more details based on the reported literature. It has been noticed that the SERS-based immunoassay presents reliable results for the prostate cancer quantification. The EC-SERS, which integrates electrochemistry with the SERS model, could also offer a potential ultrasensitive strategy, although its application in prostate cancer analysis has been still limited.

Introduction

The prostate is a muscular gland present in men. It produces semen fluids and lies in front of the rectum below the bladder. The major cancer associated with the prostate is an adenocarcinoma that is responsible for 9% of all cancer deaths among men, where 1 in 39 men die of prostate cancer [1]. The survival rate for a distant stage cancer is about 28% which is low compared to other types of cancers [2]. The probability of developing a disease is around 1 in 7 men, while there are 97% cases occurring in men after 50 years of age. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in men with more than 217, 000 new cases every year in the United States itself, being the third main cause of cancer death in men from all types [3], [4], [5], [6]. The major causes of this cancer are thought due to male hormone stimulation.. Symptoms for advanced cancer may include painful urination, blood in urine and semen, bone pain, edema, weight loss and changes in bowl habits, early stage disease may be asymptomatic [7], [8], [9]. The cancerous or precancerous cells in the prostate gland are prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) which correspond to abnormal proliferation within the prostatic ducts, ductules, and large acini of premalignant foci of cellular dysplasia and carcinoma in situ without stromal invasion [10], [11], [12], [13], [14]. It is important to know about the stage of prostate cancer as this can help to make decisions about the proper treatments. Staging is generally based on PSA levels, Gleason score and spread of disease. [15] [16,17].

Manymedical and surgical approaches can be used to treat the different stages of prostate cancer, such as hormonal therapy, chemotherapy, glucocorticoid treatment, pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments, prostatectomy, and radiotherapy [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23]. Disease felt to be confined to the prostate gland itselfcan be treated using advanced surgical treatments including prostatectomy in which prostate gland is removed with the help of robots or laparoscopy [24]. Another option employs intensity modulated radiotherapy(IMRT) which focuses radiations with varying intensities on the targeted tumors, while the healthy tissues are minimally effected [25]. Often these treaments for the prostate cancer patient include androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) in which the male androgen hormones, such as testosterone and dihydrotestosterone, are blocked or reduced in the body to halt or delay the growth of cancer cells [26].

It should be noticed that the effective treatment depends on the sensitive monitoring of the patient's condition, biological and chemical variations occurring before, during and after the treatment [27]. Early and accurate diagnosis of the disease plays a crucial role to reduce the adverse effects and mortality rates. Therefore, various diagnostic methods have been established for understanding the spreading mechanism, prognosis, staging, and disease treatment [28], [29], [30], [31], [32], [33], [34].

In this review, different spectro-analytical techniques, have been employed to detect prostate cancer, have been briefly covered. The gathered information is based on literature search using online data bases including Google scholar, Web of Science and Pubmed. The search terms and inclusion criteria are spectroscopy, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy, SERS and EC-SERS as diagnostic tool for Prostate cancer, PSA, prostatic cancer biomarkers. A detailed discussion has been dedicated to explain the effective role of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) based techniques, including their advantages and drawbacks. Such as the challenges associated with handling different biofluids systems with SERS methods. The model of electrochemistry in conjunction with SERS and its potential use in prostate cancer analysis has been also explored.

Section snippets

Spectro-analytical techniques

Fig. 1. illustrates various spectroscopic and imaging methods effectively used in the prostate cancer analysis. Different spectroscopic techniques are considered efficient and convenient diagnostic tool in the identification and characterization of prostate cancer. Different techniques including Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS),

SERS-based diagnosis of prostate cancer in different sample types

The versatility of SERS techniques enables to investigate the prostate cancer in various body biofluids as well as tissue samples. The samples obtained for the cancer detection vary according to their nature and disease sensitivity. Different biological samples, including tissues [98], blood [99], serum [81,100], urine [101,102] and seminal fluid [101], can be used for the detection and characterization of the biochemical features associated with the development of the disease. One of the

Electrochemical sensing techniques

Electrochemical sensing has been applied during previous decades in biomedical setups and successfully established point of care devices by implementing their transducers and electrodes through typical electrochemical analytical approaches [143,144]. Various reviews reported different applications of optical and electrochemical apt sensors for the detection of human PSA [145], [146], [147], [148]. Nanomaterials, including carbon-based and metal-based nanomaterials, can be combined with

Conclusion

The revolutionary development of different spectro-analytical techniques, including SERS, for the analysis of prostate cancer and the limitations associated with each have been discussed. A comprehensive discussion on the SERS based prostate cancer detection has been provided, and latest literature has been summarized. The detection of prostate cancer cells in different biofluids and body samples is considered as a big challenge for analytical techniques. Among widely used analytical methods,

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements

Authors thank King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) for its support thru the project no. DF191043.

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