Miniaturized Immunoplatforms Supporting the Diagnosis of Lung Cancer Biomarkers and Immunotherapies ^†

Abstract

Immunotherapy is an innovative cancer treatment that activates the immune system, enabling natural anti-cancer defense mechanisms. Although the large-scale use of immunological treatment is yet to happen, immunotherapy already plays a practical role in cancer treatment. Lung cancers have been selected as the main subject of interest. The aim of the presented research is to explore an innovative methodology for the rapid determination of protein antigens by means of miniaturized immunosensing platforms. One of the key elements of such a diagnostic approach is the determination of programmed death-ligand 1 (PDL1) and/or human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2) expression directly on cancer cells or in biofluid samples. As a principle, the developed method should act as a support or an alternative to the assessment of tissue sections after immunohistochemical staining or classical enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). The idea covers the utilization of biosensing platforms based on flexible substrates, e.g., poly (ethylene terephtalate) foils or antibody-binging membranes made of nitrocellulose/poly (vinylidene fluoride) for the sensitive detection of lung cancer biomarkers. As a result, it would be possible to globally assess the occurrence of biomarkers (e.g., PDL1 epitopes). The detection process consists of instrumental readout using optical techniques (spectrophotometry or fluorometry). The main goals of the presented research will be: (i) the characterization of antibody-protein antigen interactions and the selection of the best immunosensing formats; (ii) the selection of the most attractive epitopes as sensing targets; and (iii) the characterization of the analytical performance of the developed immunosensing platforms for the detection of PDL1 and/or HER2 biomarkers. Taking into account the benefits, we believe that the proposed research will allow us to broaden the knowledge about cancer diagnostics and allow us to propose a quantitative methodology for determining various epitopes of cancer cells.