Point‐of‐Care Testing for the Detection of MicroRNAs: Towards Liquid Biopsy on a Chip

Abstract

Point‐of‐care (PoC) testing is revolutionizing the healthcare sector improving patient care in daily hospital practice and allowing reaching even remote geographical areas. In the frame of cancer management, the design and validation of PoC enabling the non‐invasive, rapid detection of cancer markers is urgently required to implement liquid biopsy in clinical practice. Therefore, focusing on stable blood‐based markers with high‐specificity, such as microRNAs, is of crucial importance. In this work, we highlight the potential impact of circulating microRNAs detection on cancer management and the development of PoC testing devices, especially for low‐income countries. A detailed discussion about the challenges that should be faced to promote the technological transfer and clinical use of these tools has been added, to provide the readers with a complete overview of potentialities and current limitations.

Status of breast cancer detection in young women and potential of liquid biopsy

“…Current limitations associated with collection tubes could impact remote collection, depending on location, and would require efficient delivery of samples to processing locations. Other options to mitigate these issues include Point-of-Care (lab-on-chip) solutions, which have been reviewed extensively elsewhere ( 201 – 203 ).…”