Global serum profiling: an opportunity for earlier cancer detection.

The advances in cancer research achieved in the last 50 years have been remarkable and have provided a deeper knowledge of this disease in many of its conceptual and biochemical aspects. From viewing a tumor as a 'simple' aggregate of mutant cells and focusing on detecting key cell changes leading to the tumorigenesis, the understanding of cancer has broadened to consider it as a complex organ interacting with its close and far surroundings through tumor and non-tumor cells, metabolic mechanisms, and immune processes. Metabolism and the immune system have been linked to tumorigenesis and malignancy progression along with cancer-specific genetic mutations.

Advancing cervical cancer diagnosis and screening with spectroscopy and machine learning.

Introduction: In the UK alone, the incidence of cervical cancer is increasing, hence an urgent need for early and rapid detection of cancer before it develops. Spectroscopy in conjunction with machine learning offers a disruptive technology that promises to pick up cancer early as compared to the current diagnostic techniques used.

Areas Covered: This review article explores the different spectroscopy techniques that have been used for the analysis of cervical cancer.

Electrochemically Enhanced Delivery of Pemetrexed from Electroactive Hydrogels.

Electroactive hydrogels based on derivatives of polyethyleneglycol (PEG), chitosan and polypyrrole were prepared via a combination of photopolymerization and oxidative chemical polymerization, and optionally doped with anions (e.g., lignin, drugs, etc.

Infrared Spectroscopy of Urine for the Non-Invasive Detection of Endometrial Cancer.

Current triage for women with post-menopausal bleeding (PMB) to diagnose endometrial cancer rely on specialist referral for intimate tests to sequentially image, visualise and sample the endometrium. A point-of-care non-invasive triage tool with an instant readout could provide immediate reassurance for low-risk symptomatic women, whilst fast-tracking high-risk women for urgent intrauterine investigations. This study assessed the potential for infrared (IR) spectroscopy and attenuated total reflection (ATR) technology coupled with chemometric analysis of the resulting spectra for endometrial cancer detection in urine samples.