Point-of-care identification of tumor markers is an increasingly urgent part of medical diagnostics research, as it allows more timely screening for a growing number of cancer types. The technologies emerging from this work offer less stressful screening for patients as well as simpler methodologies for healthcare providers. Moreover, they are generally less costly than more conventional screening techniques. Panel arrays that can screen for a range of markers preclude the need for specificity.

A team in China has developed a 4 x 6 paper array in which electrodes are printed on paper using a home-made holder and in which one paper layer contains the sensing sites. The device is simple to use and can screen for cancer biomarkers at much lower concentrations than other approaches.

• A Disposable Paper-based Electrochemical Sensor with Addressable Electrode Array for Cancer Screening,
  Shenguang Ge, Lei Ge, Mei Yan, Jinghua Yu,
  Chem. Commun. 2012.
  DOI: 10.1039/C2CC34887J