title: Nanosensors for cancer detection.
abstract: Cancer is a major burden in today's society and one of the leading causes of death in industrialised countries. Various avenues for the detection of cancer exist, most of which rely on standard methods, such as histology, ELISA, and PCR. Here we put the focus on nanomechanical biosensors derived from atomic force microscopy cantilevers. The versatility of this novel technology has been demonstrated in different applications and in some ways surpasses current technologies, such as microarray, quartz crystal microbalance and surface plasmon resonance. The technology enables label free biomarker detection without the necessity of target amplification in a total cellular background, such as BRAF mutation analysis in malignant melanoma. A unique application of the cantilever array format is the analysis of conformational dynamics of membrane proteins associated to surface stress changes. Another development is characterisation of exhaled breath which allows assessment of a patient's condition in a non-invasive manner.
authors: SNI, Swiss Nano Institute, Institute of Physics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors: François
authors: F
authors: Huber
authors: SNI, Swiss Nano Institute, Institute of Physics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors: Hans Peter
authors: HP
authors: Lang
authors: SNI, Swiss Nano Institute, Institute of Physics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors: Jiayun
authors: J
authors: Zhang
authors: Ludwig Center for Cancer Research of the University of Lausanne, Épalinges VD, Switzerland.
authors: Donata
authors: D
authors: Rimoldi
authors: SNI, Swiss Nano Institute, Institute of Physics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors: Christoph
authors: C
authors: Gerber
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor