Immunomultiple PCR-based electrochemical and lateral flow strategy for the simultaneous detection of liver cancer tumor markers

• DOI: 10.1007/s00604-023-06098-y
• Publication Date: 2023-12-13T16:02:30Z
• Authors: Juan Hu; Wubo Ren; Han Liu; Cong Xie; Dandan Li; Liping Yang; Fangli Liao; Linshan Jiang; Qinli Pu; Weixian Chen
• Keywords: Liver Cancer; Circulating tumor cell; Nanochemistry

The current use of the single serum biomarker α-fetoprotein (AFP) in clinical practice has limitations in terms of specificity and sensitivity. We propose a strategy that combines antigen capture polymerase chain reaction (AC-PCR), lateral flow assay (LFA), and electrochemical biosensors to detect both AFP and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in liver cancer serum. First, we used the AC-PCR technique to achieve target separation, purification, signal conversion, and amplification, eliminating target heterogeneity. Then, we achieved rapid results through the LFA and electrochemical biosensor platforms. As a result, the proposed assay has limits of 5 cells/mL for CTCs and 5 µg/L for AFP. The proposed method was applied effectively to simulated blood samples. This method has the potential to play a role in early liver cancer and provide a potential application for the diagnosis and precision treatment of liver cancer.