Recent Advances in HPV Detection: From Traditional Methods to Nanotechnology and the Application of Quantum Dots

Zhenglin He,1 Xuepeng Zheng,1 Ruiqi Liu,1 Kai Zhao,2,3 Dezhi Mao,4 Lingkai Zhang,5 Runshan Wan,6 Hongyang Zhang,1 Xue Wang1,7 1China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Jilin University, Changchun, 130033, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Engineering & Applied Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA; 3School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA; 4Clinical Stem Cell Research Center, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China; 5State Key Laboratory of Female Fertility Promotion, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China; 6College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, People’s Republic of China; 7Department of Clinical Nutrition and Toxicology, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130033, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xue Wang, Department of Clinical Nutrition and Toxicology, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130033, People’s Republic of China, Tel/Fax +86 0431 84995322, Email [email protected]: Cervical cancer, a significant public health concern, demands precise and expeditious detection methods to curb the spread of human papillomavirus (HPV). The early detection of cervical cancer remains a critical challenge in developing reliable and efficient screening tools to meet the demand for controlling cervical cancer. Traditional detection techniques are often cumbersome, costly, and inadequate for on-site HPV testing. Nanotechnology, with its unique electrical, chemical, and optical properties, has emerged as a pivotal component in the development of biosensors for rapid and reliable HPV detection. This article provides a comprehensive review of the advancements in cervical cancer detection, encompassing traditional methods, emerging protocols, and novel quantum dots (QDs)-based approaches for detection. The review examines the application of various nanomaterials in electrochemical and photoelectrochemical biosensors for the diagnosis of cervical cancer, with these innovations offering a significant improvement over conventional approach. Furthermore, we detail the synthesis methods of QDs and their properties, illustrate the substantial enhancement in sensor performance achieved through their applications, and elucidate the improvements and challenges associated with these new protocols while highlighting the potential application prospects of novel QDs technology in HPV detection. Keywords: cervical cancer, human papillomavirus detection, nanotechnology, quantum dots, biosensors, early diagnosis