Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy for prostate cancer diagnosis: A review

The present review focuses on the diagnosis of prostate cancer using surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. On the basis of literature search, SERS-based analysis for prostate cancer detection of different sample types is reported in the present study. Prostate cancer is responsible for nearly one-tenth of all cell cancer deaths among men. Significant efforts have been dedicated to establish precise and sensitive monitoring techniques to detect prostate cancer biomarkers in different types of body samples. Among the various spectro-analytical techniques investigated to achieve this objective, SERS spectroscopy has been proven as a promising approach that provides noticeable enhancements of the Raman sensitivity when the target biomolecules interact with a nanostructured surface. The purpose of this review is to give a brief overview of the SERS-basedapproach and other spectro-analytical strategies being used for the detection and quantification of prostate cancer biomarkers. The revolutionary development of SERS methods for the diagnosis of prostate cancer has been discussed in more details based on the reported literature. It has been noticed that the SERS-based immunoassay presents reliable results for the prostate cancer quantification. The EC-SERS, which integrates electrochemistry with the SERS model, could also offer a potential ultrasensitive strategy, although its application in prostate cancer analysis has been still limited.