Development of a low cost label free electronic sensor for detecting breast cancer biomarker panels in serum

Metastasis is now the primary cause of death in breast cancer (BC) patients. 50% of women with micrometastatic breast cancer, at presentation, will experience relapse despite optimal chemo- and endocrine therapy. Conventional histopathological analysis and high-resolution imaging (e.g. MRI and PET/CT) are not sensitive enough to detect/monitor for early metastasis. There is, therefore, an urgent need to find better ways to identify and treat such women to prevent the development of invariably fatal metastatic disease. Our aim is to develop a low cost, label-free, electronic biosensor using organic field effect transistors as signal transducers that can be used for the regular monitoring of serum biomarkers indicative of micrometastasis. The sensor will be in array format to enable individual quantification of biomarkers within a panel. Ultimately, with the discovery of further biomarkers, arrays will be personalized to be selective for subtypes of BC or even individual patients. Electronic biosensors offer a cost effective label-free alternative that can be employed directly at the point of care (POC), e.g. GP surgery, to routinely monitor for early metastasis and relapse. They eliminate the need for tags, dyes, specialized reagents or expensive fluorescence labelling, not only dramatically reducing the cost but also simplifying both assay design and miniaturization. Academic and industrial advancements in the fabrication of electronic devices by printing (e.g. ink-jet or screen printing) contribute enormously to lowering the cost and the signal from the device can be interpreted by a simple bespoke digital reader or potentially a smartphone application.