Synergistic analysis of protein corona and haemoglobin levels detects pancreatic cancer

Simultaneous detection of multiple analytes from a single biological sample is gainingmore attention in the development of more reliable and point-of-care diagnostic devices. We developeda multiplexed strategy that combined outcomes of clinical biomarkers with analysis of theprotein corona that forms around graphene oxide sheets upon exposure to patient’s plasma. As aparadigmatic case study, we selected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), mainly because ofthe absence of effective detection strategies that resulted in an extremely low five-year survival rateafter diagnosis (<10%). Association of protein corona analysis and haemoglobin levels discriminatedPDAC patients from healthy volunteers in up to 90% of cases. If further confirmed in larger-cohortstudies, this approach may be used in the detection of PDAC.