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Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Cancer Immunotherapy Applications: Opportunities, Challenges, and Current
Shuvashis Dey1, Matt Trau1,2, Kevin M Koo3,4
1Centre for Personalized Nanomedicine, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
Abstract:
Cancer immunotherapy encompasses a variety of approaches which target or use a patient's immune system components to eliminate cancer. Notably, the current use of immune checkpoint inhibitors to target immune checkpoint receptors such as CTLA-4 or PD-1 has led to remarkable treatment responses in a variety of cancers. To predict cancer patients' immunotherapy responses effectively and efficiently, multiplexed immunoassays have been shown to be advantageous in sensing multiple immunomarkers of the tumor microenvironment simultaneously for patient stratification. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is well-regarded for its capabilities in multiplexed bioassays and has been increasingly demonstrated in cancer immunotherapy applications in recent years. This review focuses on SERS-active nanomaterials in the modern literature which have shown promise for enabling cancer patient-tailored immunotherapies, including multiplexed in vitro and in vivo immunomarker sensing and imaging, as well as immunotherapy drug screening and delivery.
Insights
Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) offers promising multiplexed detection of cancer immunomarkers. This technology aids in predicting patient responses to cancer immunotherapy and personalizing treatments.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Nanotechnology
- Cancer Research
Background:
- Cancer immunotherapy utilizes the patient's immune system to combat cancer, with immune checkpoint inhibitors (e.g., CTLA-4, PD-1) showing significant success.
- Predicting patient response to immunotherapy is crucial for effective treatment selection and requires analyzing multiple biomarkers within the tumor microenvironment.
- Multiplexed immunoassays enable simultaneous detection of various immunomarkers, facilitating patient stratification for immunotherapy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the application of Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)-active nanomaterials in cancer immunotherapy.
- To highlight SERS's potential for multiplexed sensing and imaging of tumor microenvironment immunomarkers.
- To explore SERS's role in immunotherapy drug screening and delivery for personalized cancer treatment.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent literature focusing on SERS-active nanomaterials for cancer immunotherapy applications.
- Analysis of SERS capabilities in multiplexed detection of immunomarkers in vitro and in vivo.
- Examination of SERS for assessing immunotherapy drug efficacy and facilitating targeted drug delivery.
Main Results:
- SERS-active nanomaterials demonstrate significant potential for simultaneous detection of multiple immunomarkers.
- SERS enables sensitive and specific multiplexed sensing and imaging within the tumor microenvironment.
- SERS facilitates efficient screening of immunotherapy drugs and holds promise for targeted drug delivery systems.
Conclusions:
- SERS-active nanomaterials are valuable tools for advancing cancer immunotherapy through precise patient stratification.
- SERS technology supports the development of personalized cancer treatments by enabling comprehensive analysis of the tumor immune landscape.
- The integration of SERS into clinical practice could significantly improve the efficacy and efficiency of cancer immunotherapy.
