Protein corona-enabled serological tests for early stage cancer detection

Early stage cancer detection is a major issue in current medicine. In recent years, nanotechnology is providing new alternatives for early diagnosis. Upon exposure to human plasma, several nanoparticle types (e.g. gold nanoparticles) are surrounded by a protein layer referred to as protein corona (PC). The PC changes the original identity of the nanoparticle conferring a new biological character. It is now accepted that slight variations in the composition of a protein source significantly varies the PC composition. Thus, nanomaterials incubated with plasma proteins of individuals with different physiological conditions generate PCs with different compositions. This gives rise to the new concept of personalized PC. Therefore, since protein patterns of subjects affected by certain pathologies differ from those of healthy ones, diagnostic technologies based on the evaluation of personalized PC could represent a fascinating opportunity for early disease detection. Herein, we review the concept of personalized PC along with recent advances on the topic, giving an overview of some innovative analytical approaches for early stage cancer detection.