Sisi Wang, Jierong Xiao, Fabiao Yu, Rui Wang, Guisheng He*
Accepted: 2025-10-23
Sisi Wang, Jierong Xiao, Fabiao Yu, Rui Wang, Guisheng He*. Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering for Metastasis Detection and Treatment Evaluation in Breast Cancer[J]. Progress in Chemistry, 2025, ():
250506.
Abstract Breast cancer remains one of the most prevalent malignancies and the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women worldwide. Metastasis represents the critical determinant of poor prognosis in breast cancer patients. Conventional detection methods face limitations, including insufficient sensitivity, invasiveness, and inability to dynamically monitor tumor microenvironment alterations, thereby failing to meet the demands of precision medicine. In recent years, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has emerged as a powerful tool for breast cancer metastasis monitoring and treatment evaluation, owing to its ultra-high sensitivity at the single-molecule level, exceptional spatiotemporal resolution, and multiplex detection capability. Functionalized SERS probes targeting tumor-specific biomarkers enable non-invasive identification of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), exosomes(Exos), and metastasis-associated metabolites, facilitating molecular-level diagnosis of breast cancer metastasis. Furthermore, SERS technology permits real-time monitoring of drug delivery efficiency, release kinetics, and therapeutic responses at tumor sites, providing dynamic molecular profiles for personalized treatment evaluation. This review systematically summarizes recent advancements in SERS-based detection of metastasis-related biomarkers, tumor microenvironment analysis, and treatment efficacy assessment. Key challenges, including probe targeting optimization, signal stability enhancement, and clinical translation, are critically discussed. Looking forward, the integration of multimodal SERS probe design with artificial intelligence-powered data analytics is anticipated to propel breast cancer management into a new era of precision medicine and visualization-guided therapeutics.