Advancements and Future Predictions on Diagnostic Approaches towards Cervical Cancer through Nanotechnology-Based Sensors for the Detection of Human Papillomavirus

Abstract

Cervical cancer has the highest mortality rate worldwide. In the quest for reducing such a high mortality rate, advancements in diagnosis as well as treatment are being undertaken at various scales across the globe. With the recent advancements in the applications of nanotechnology, simple, rapid and inexpensive diagnostic methods for cervical cancer, i.e., human papillomavirus (HPV), especially high-risk oncogenic subtypes 16 and 18 have started to gain attention of health care practitioners. This review outlines the current applications of biosensors for the diagnosis of HPV, as compared to the conventional techniques for measuring HPV that have some limitations. The traditional methods used for cervix cancer are less sensitive, whereas nanotechnology has greatly improved the sensitivity. Due to cancer incidence and mortality growing rapidly worldwide, the prevalence and risk factors are also discussed in this review.