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Surface-enhanced Raman scattering study of carcinoembryonic antigen in serum from patients with colorectal cancers

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Abstract

In this work, we developed a SERS platform for quantitative detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in serum of patients with colorectal cancers. Anti-CEA-functionalized 4-mercaptobenzoic acid–labeled Au/Ag core-shell bimetallic nanoparticles were prepared first and then used to analyze CEA antigen solutions of different concentrations. A calibration curve was established in the range from 5 × 10−3 to 5 × 105 ng/mL. Finally, this new SERS probe was applied for quantitative detection of CEA in serum obtained from 26 colorectal cancer patients according to the calibration curve. The results were in good agreement with that obtained by electrochemical luminescence method, suggesting that SERS immunoassay has high sensitivity and specificity for CEA detection in serum. A detection limit of 5 pg/ml was achieved. This study demonstrated the feasibility and great potential for developing this new technology into a clinical tool for analysis of tumor markers in the blood.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Jing Wang and Gangqin Xi for excellent technical assistance. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61210016, 61178090, 81101110), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research International Scientific Exchange Program, the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (No.2012J01326), and the Medical Innovation Program of Fujian Province (No.2012-CX-7).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology of Fujian Provincial Tumor Hospital, Teaching Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350014, China

    Gang Chen, Yanping Chen, Xiongwei Zheng, Cheng He & Jianping Lu

  2. Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Translational Cancer Medicine, Fuzhou, 350014, China

    Gang Chen

  3. Key Laboratory of OptoElectronic Science and Technology for Medicine, Ministry of Education, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350007, China

    Shangyuan Feng & Rong Chen

  4. Imaging Unit, Integrative Oncology Department, British Columbia Cancer Agency Research Centre, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1L3, Canada

    Haisan Zeng

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  1. Gang Chen
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Correspondence to Yanping Chen.

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Chen, G., Chen, Y., Zheng, X. et al. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering study of carcinoembryonic antigen in serum from patients with colorectal cancers. Appl. Phys. B 113, 597–602 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-013-5515-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-013-5515-1

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