Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2013, 14, 15479-15509; doi:10.3390/ijms140815479 OPEN ACCESS International Journal of Molecular Sciences ISSN 1422-0067 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms Review Early Lung Cancer Diagnosis by Biosensors Yuqian Zhang 1, Dongliang Yang 1, Lixing Weng 2,* and Lianhui Wang 1,* 1 Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics & Information Displays (KLOEID) and Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, 9 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing 210023, China; E-Mails:
[email protected] (Y.Z.);
[email protected] (D.Y.) 2 College of Geography and Biological Information, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, 9 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing 210023, China * Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mails:
[email protected] (L.We.);
[email protected] (L.Wa.); Tel.: +86-25-8586-6333 (L.Wa.); Fax: +86-25-8586-6396 (L.Wa.). Received: 13 May 2013; in revised form: 29 June 2013 / Accepted: 4 July 2013 / Published: 25 July 2013 Abstract: Lung cancer causes an extreme threat to human health, and the mortality rate due to lung cancer has not decreased during the last decade. Prognosis or early diagnosis could help reduce the mortality rate. If microRNA and tumor-associated antigens (TAAs), as well as the corresponding autoantibodies, can be detected prior to clinical diagnosis, such high sensitivity of biosensors makes the early diagnosis and prognosis of cancer realizable. This review provides an overview of tumor-associated biomarker identifying methods and the biosensor technology available today. Laboratorial researches utilizing biosensors for early lung cancer diagnosis will be highlighted. Keywords: lung cancer; early diagnosis; biomarker; microRNA; tumor-associated antigen; biosensor 1.