Applications of biorecognition engineering technologies in cancer biosensors from Web of Science from 2019 to 2021 (up to December 10, 2021). MIP: Molecularly Imprinted Polymers, SA: Synthetic Antibodies, AMM: Antibody Mimetic Molecules.

Abstract

Annotated bibliography about cancer. Cancer is the second cause of mortality worldwide. Early diagnosis of this multifactorial disease is challenging, especially in populations with limited access to healthcare services. A vast repertoire of cancer biomarkers has been studied to facilitate early diagnosis, particularly the use of antibodies against these biomarkers is of interest to detect them through biorecognition. However, there are certain limitations to this approach. Emerging biorecognition engineering technologies are alternative methods to generate molecules and molecule-based scaffolds with similar properties to those presented by antibodies. Molecularly imprinted polymers, synthetic antibodies, and antibody mimetic molecules are three novel technologies commonly used in scientific studies. This review aims to present the fundamentals of these technologies and address questions about how they are implemented for cancer detection in recent scientific studies. A systematic analysis of the scientific peer-reviewed literature regarding the use of these technologies on cancer detection was carried out starting from the year 2000 up to 2021 to answer these questions. In total, only 131 scientific articles indexed in Web of Science from the last three years were included in this analysis. The results show that antibody mimetic molecules were the biorecognition technology with the highest number of reports. The most studied cancer types were: multiple, breast, leukemia, colorectal, and lung. Electrochemical and optical detection methods were the most frequently used. Finally, the most analyzed biomarkers are carcinoembryonic antigen, MCF-7 cells, and exosomes. These technologies are emerging tools with adequate performance for developing biosensors useful in cancer detection, which can be used to improve cancer diagnosis in developing countries.