Recent advances in nanomaterials-based electrochemical immunosensors and aptasensors for HER2 assessment in breast cancer

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is one of the key molecular targets in breast cancer pathogenesis. Overexpression and/or amplification of HER2 in approximately 15-20% of breast cancer patients is associated with high mortality and poor prognosis. Accumulating evidence shows that accurate and sensitive detection of HER2 improves the survival outcomes for HER2-positive breast cancer patients from targeted therapies. The current methods of clinical determination of HER2 expression levels are based on slide-based assays that rely on invasively collected primary tumours. Alternatively, ELISA-based detection of the shredded HER2 extracellular domain (HER2-ECD) of has been suggested as a surrogate method for monitoring disease progress and treatment response in breast cancer patients. In the past decade, biosensors have emerged as an alternative modality for the detection of circulating HER2-ECD in human serum samples. In particular, electrochemical biosensors based on nanomaterials and antibodies and aptamers have been increasingly developed as promising tools for rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective detection of HER2-ECD. These biosensors harness the high affinity and specificity of antibodies and aptamers, and unique conductive properties, biocompatibility, large surface area, and chemical stability of nanomaterials for selective and sensitive assessment of the HER2. This review provides an overview of the recent advances in the application of nanomaterials-based immunosensors and aptasensors for detection of circulating HER2-ECD. In particular, various electrochemical techniques, detection approaches, and nanomaterials are discussed. Further, analytical figures of merit of various HER2 immunosensors and aptasensors are compared. Finally, possible challenges and potential opportunities for biosensor-based detection of HER2-ECD are discussed.