Integrating aptamers- and molecularly imprinted polymers in biosensing platforms for cancer biomarker detection: Trends and perspectives


Cetinkaya A., Isa A., Piskin E., ÖZKAN S. A.

TrAC - Trends in Analytical Chemistry, cilt.202, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Derleme
  • Cilt numarası: 202
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.trac.2026.118923
  • Dergi Adı: TrAC - Trends in Analytical Chemistry
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Chemical Abstracts Core, Chimica, Compendex, EMBASE, DIALNET
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Aptamers, Biosensors, Cancer-biomarkers, Molecularly imprinted polymers
  • Ankara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Cancer biomarker monitoring increasingly relies on sensing strategies that operate reliably in complex biofluids while supporting rapid, decentralized testing. Aptamers and molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are emerging as practical alternatives to antibody recognition, and hybrid Apt–MIP architectures have been proposed to combine programmable affinity with imprint-defined binding cavities. This review surveys aptamers, MIPs, and dual-recognition biosensors for health monitoring across proteins, nucleic acids, extracellular vesicles, and metabolites, with emphasis on cancer-relevant targets and the constraints imposed by real sampling matrices. The interplay between receptor choice, interface engineering, and signal design is discussed as a route to mitigate nonspecific adsorption, signal drift, and cross-reactivity. Transduction options spanning electrochemical and optical readouts are summarized, and less conventional routes—including electrochemiluminescence and device-integrated formats—are highlighted as approaches to improve interpretability in the presence of matrix interference. Finally, a comparison of the various methods is presented across multiple studies, emphasizing transduction techniques and fabrication, as well as their integrability with point-of-care and health monitoring.