Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanoparticles for rapid chemical analysis of tumor-associated extracellular vesicles (EVs)

Sensitive and specific detection of biomaterials packaged in exosomes and related extracellular vesicles (EVs) has the potential to revolutionize cancer diagnosis and monitoring. Yet current methods cannot readily distinguish tumor-associated EVs. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) represents a promising tool to address current limitations, but are challenging to implement in whole biofluids. Here we outline a simple SERS assay combining nanoparticles with biofluids purified to various extent. We measure variation between clinical samples of head and neck cancer and demonstrate that there is a trade-off between useful molecular information from purified EVs versus the time, cost, and difficulty of isolation procedures.