The Application of Nanotechnology for Quantification of Circulating Tumour DNA in Liquid Biopsies: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Technologies for quantifying circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in liquid biopsies could enable real-time measurements of cancer progression, profoundly impacting patient care. Sequencing methods can be too complex and time-consuming for regular point-of-care monitoring, but nanotechnology offers an alternative, harnessing the unique properties of objects tens to hundreds of nanometres in size. This systematic review was performed to identify all examples of nanotechnology-based ctDNA detection and assess their potential for clinical use. Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science, Google Patents, Espacenet and Embase/MEDLINE were searched up to 23rd March 2021. The review identified nanotechnology-based methods for ctDNA detection for which quantitative measures (e.g., limit of detection, LOD) were reported and biologically relevant samples were used. The pre-defined inclusion criteria were met by 66 records. LODs ranged from 10 zM to 50nM. 25 records presented an LOD of 10fM or below.

Nanotechnology: A Promising Approach for Cancer Diagnosis, Therapeutics and Theragnosis

“…Although nanotechnology has yet to be used in clinical cancer detection, it is already applied in a range of medical tests and screens, such as gold nanoparticles in home pregnancy tests. 56 Nanoparticles are being used to capture cancer biomarkers including cancer-associated proteins, 57 , 58 circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), 59 , 60 circulating tumor cells (CTC), and exosomes. 61 , 62 Antibodies, small molecules, peptides, aptamers, and other compounds can be thickly coated on nanoparticle surfaces because of this high surface area-to-volume ratio.…”