Recent Advances in SERS (Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering) for Deep-Tissue In Vivo Cancer Imaging
WU Hong#, XIAO Xinqin#, HU Yujun, YANG Jiang*
SERS (surface-enhanced Raman scattering), as a highly sensitive and high-resolution spectroscopic analytical technique, has demonstrated tremendous clinical application potential in biomedicine, particularly in early cancer detection and non-invasive in vivo imaging. However, the effects of light scattering, autofluorescence, and absorption in biological tissues significantly impair the performance of optical imaging techniques in deep tissues, leading to misdiagnosis and incomplete surgical resection. With rapid advances in molecular imaging, SERS probes have attracted widespread attention due to their unique advantages of high sensitivity, molecular targeting, and multiplexing capabilities. In recent years, the combination of SERS with emerging specialized Raman techniques such as transmission Raman, near-infrared-II Raman, and SORS (spatially offset Raman scattering) has achieved significant progress in cancer imaging. Such advancements provide new insights and feasible solutions for non-invasively imaging tumors buried deep in tissues. This review comprehensively overviews the latest developments in SERS cancer imaging in living subjects and discusses their application prospects in clinical translation, multimodal imaging, and theranostics. Furthermore, future research directions are envisaged to focus on interdisciplinary and clinical investigations. The aim is to pave new paths for early cancer diagnosis, surgical navigation, and personalized therapy, ultimately improving patient outcomes.
CN
EN