Application of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer

Current tumour diagnosis relies on patient symptoms, physical signs, and imaging findings supplemented by the gold standard, pathological examination. Posttreatment efficacy evaluation also primarily depends on imaging aided by blood tests, such as tumour marker tests, which often require invasive procedures. In recent years, scientists have explored more sensitive and noninvasive tumour diagnostic technologies. Owing to its single-molecule level sensitivity, fingerprint-like specificity, synchronous multicomponent detection capability, noninvasiveness, and potential for rapid analysis, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technology has gradually gained attention in the medical field, particularly for tumour diagnosis and treatment. This article systematically reviews SERS detection for breast cancer diagnosis and therapy.