Electrochemical immunosensors in breast and ovarian cancer.

During the last decades the incidence of cancer increased dramatically especially in developed countries. In spite of the fact that the immunochemical methods allowed the diagnosis in early stages, the biopsies are generally invasive methods that create discomfort to patients. The need for fast, sensitive, easy to use and noninvasive diagnosis tools is actually of great interest for many research groups all over the world. Immunosensors (ISs) are miniaturized measuring devices, which selectively detect their targets by means of antibodies (Abs) and provide concentration-dependent signals. Ab binding leads to a variation in electric charge, mass, heat or optical properties, which can be detected directly or indirectly by a variety of transducers. A great number of proteins could be considered as recognition element. In this review the attention was focused on main cancer biomarkers, currently used by immunological methods (immunohistochemistry, ELISA, flow cytometry, Western blot, immunofluorescence etc) and in the development of electrochemical immunoassays that could be used in cancer diagnosis, prognosis and therapy monitoring.