Emerging aptasensor approach for biomarkers relevant to cervical cancer: a critical review

Cervical cancer remains a significant global health concern, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where access to efficient and affordable screening methods is limited. Conventional diagnostic methods often have low sensitivity and specificity, are costly and invasive, limiting their widespread use. This creates an urgent need for an affordable, non-invasive, reliable diagnostic approach. Biomarker detection has become increasingly popular due to its less invasive and cost-effective nature. Among various platforms, aptamer-based biosensors or aptasensors have emerged as a promising diagnostic tool that offers high sensitivity, specificity, robustness, and portability at low cost, which makes them highly suitable for LMICs and point-of-care (POC) applications. This review critically explores both current and novel biomarkers associated with cervical cancer and their roles in carcinogenesis. While aptasensors have demonstrated utility in detecting markers such as carcinoma embryonic antigen, vascular endothelial growth factor, cancer antigen 125, HPV-16 E7, HPV-16 L1, miR-21 and protein tyrosine kinase 7, there is now an emerging development focus on aptasensor-based detection of biomarkers specific to cervical cancer, such as SCC antigen, YKL-40, high mobility group box chromosomal protein 1, CXCL13, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1, and p16INKa/ki-67. This review highlights cancer biomarkers relevant to cervical cancer, utilizing existing aptamer biosensing data to underscore their diagnostic potential and support earlier disease intervention strategies. Furthermore, multiplexed detection strategies enhance diagnostic specificity for cervical cancer and minimize reliance on technical expertise and advanced infrastructure. Overall, this review emphasizes the emerging role of aptamer-based biosensors in improving early detection and effective screening of cervical cancer, particularly in LMICs and POC settings, highlighting the need for further research to address current gaps in cervical cancer-specific aptamer biosensor development.