Electrochemical sensors for diagnosis and monitoring of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) is a deadly form of blood cancer which occurs predominantly in children. It represents one of the most prevalent paediatric cancers. Both the diagnosis and monitoring of ALL presents clinicians with significant challenges. Diagnosis and monitoring of such paediatric conditions can be challenging due to the limitations in the patient's ability to communicate symptoms clearly. Early diagnosis is vital for improving the chances of positive outcomes for patients. Similarly rapid, real-time prognostics allows clinicians to adjust treatment in a timely manner. This enhances survival prospects by both early diagnosis and monitoring of relapse and also helps to avoid damage caused by unnecessary excessive and harsh treatment when the patient is in remission. The latter is especially pertinent to young and vulnerable patients. Unfortunately, current diagnostic and prognostic tests for ALL are cumbersome, slow, and require specialised facilities and trained staff. As a consequence, they are neither rapid - nor can they be widely applied. Electrochemical biosensors have the potential to underpin rapid, self-administered, high-frequency, cost-effective and point-of-care monitoring of relevant (protein and nucleic acid) biomarkers. The development of such technologies has the potential to overcome the shortcomings of current ALL diagnostic and prognostic methods. Herein, we review the literature in electrochemical biosensors for ALL diagnostics and prognostics, identifying trends and suggesting promising avenues for future work.