The simultaneous detection of the squamous cell carcinoma antigen and cancer antigen 125 in the cervical cancer serum using nano-Ag polydopamine nanospheres in an SERS-based lateral flow immunoassay.

The accurate analysis of tumor related biomarkers is extremely critical in the diagnosis of the early stage cervical cancer. Herein, we designed a novel and inexpensive surface-enhanced Raman scattering-based lateral flow assay (SERS-based LFA) strip with a single test line, which was applied for the rapid and sensitive quantitative simultaneous analysis of SCCA and CA125 in serum samples from patients with cervical cancer. In the presence of target antigens, the monoclonal antibody-coupled and Raman reporter-labeled nano-Ag polydopamine nanospheres (PDA@Ag-NPs) aggregated on the test line modified by the polyclonal antibody to form a double-antibody sandwich structure.