Biomarkers and biosensors for the early diagnosis of lung cancer

Lung cancer shows the highest mortality rate worldwide (1.3 million/year) with respect to other common cancers as prostate, breast and colon cancer. It is the second most common cancer in men and the third in women (22% of all cancer cases). The treatment of the disease is long and difficult with survival scarcely attains to 5 years. The most critical point for best prognosis is to diagnose the disease at its early stage. For this aim, divers' methods have been used including chest X-ray, computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, sputum cytology and biopsy. Although some of these methods are not suitable for all people due to the other pathologies that the patient may have. Also since the current diagnostic tools are also expensive and time consuming, hence, a new sensitive and rapid method for screening is necessary for lung cancer detection. With this approach, biosensors as diagnostics tools have provided a promising technology for the detection of many important disease biomarkers through rapid, sensitive and easy applications. In this paper, lung cancer, state-of-the-art with current diagnostics tools, genetic and protein biomarkers of the disease and emerging biosensor technology for rapid detection are reviewed. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.