Phage Display’s Prospects for Early Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer

Abstract

Prostate cancer (PC) is the second most diagnosed cancer among men. It was observed that early diagnosis of disease is highly beneficial for the survival of cancer patients. Therefore, the extension and increasing quality of life of PC patients can be achieved by broadening the cancer screening programs that are aimed at the identification of cancer manifestation in patients at earlier stages, before they demonstrate well-understood signs of the disease. Therefore, there is an urgent need for standard, sensitive, robust, and commonly available screening and diagnosis tools for the identification of early signs of cancer pathologies. In this respect, the “Holy Grail” of cancer researchers and bioengineers for decades has been molecular sensing probes that would allow for the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of cancer diseases via their interaction with cell-secreted and cell-associated PC biomarkers, e.g., PSA and PSMA, respectively. At present, most PSA tests are performed at centralized laboratories using high-throughput total PSA immune analyzers, which are suitable for dedicated laboratories and are not readily available for broad health screenings. Therefore, the current trend in the detection of PC is the development of portable biosensors for mobile laboratories and individual use. Phage display, since its conception by George Smith in 1985, has emerged as a premier tool in molecular biology with widespread application. This review describes the role of the molecular evolution and phage display paradigm in revolutionizing the methods for the early diagnosis and monitoring of PC.