Leveraging nanomaterials for ultrasensitive biosensors in early cancer detection: a review.

Cancer remains a major global health challenge with a high mortality rate, as evidenced by the rise in new cases every year. Conventional diagnostic methods like PET scans, MRIs, and biopsies, despite being widely used, suffer from significant drawbacks such as high radiation exposure, difficulty in distinguishing malignant from benign tumors, and invasiveness. Early detection, which is crucial for improving treatment outcomes and survival rates, is hindered by the asymptomatic nature of early-stage cancer and the limitations of current diagnostic tools.