Lactose-Functionalized Gold Nanorods for Sensitive and Rapid Serological Diagnosis of Cancer

Timely and accurate diagnosis of cancer is crucial to cancer treatment. However, serological diagnosis of cancer still faces great challenge because the conventional methodology based on the enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) is costly, time-consuming, and complicated, involving multiple steps. Herein, lactose-functionalized gold nanorods (Lac-GNRs) are fabricated as efficient biosensors to detect cancerous conditions based on the unique surface plasmon resonance properties of GNRs and high specificity of lactose to the galectin-1 cancer biomarker. A trace concentration of galectin-1 as small as 10(-13) M can be detected by Lac-GNRs. The comparative study among BSA, galectin-3, and galectin-1 demonstrates the good specificity of Lac-GNRs to galectin-1 either in aqueous solutions or in the complex and heterogeneous serum specimens. Clinical tests show that the Lac-GNRs biosensors can readily distinguish the serums of cancer patients from those of healthy persons simply by using a microplate reader or even direct visual observation. The Lac-GNRs biosensing platform is highly efficient and easy to use and have great potential in rapid screening of cancer patients.