Gold Nano Biosensing Technologies for Early Breast Cancer Diagnosis: Recent Progress and Future Perspectives

ABSTRACT

Breast cancer remains one of the foremost causes of cancer‐related mortality among women worldwide, where survival outcomes are strongly dictated by the timeliness and precision of diagnosis. In this review, we present gold nanomaterial‐driven biosensors as a transformative frontier in ultrasensitive breast cancer detection. Owing to their unique physicochemical attributes including localized surface plasmon resonance, superior electrical conductivity, large surface‐to‐volume ratio, and robust Au‐S surface chemistry. Gold nanostructures enable stable biomolecule immobilization, accelerated electron transfer, and powerful signal amplification across multiple sensing modalities. We comprehensively examine recent advances in gold nanostructure‐based electrochemical, SPR, SERS, fluorescent, and dual‐mode biosensors, highlighting their capability to detect clinically significant biomarkers such as HER2, CA15‐3, CEA, CD44, miR‐122, miR‐21, BRCA1/2, BIRC5 mRNA, FEN1, circulating tumor cells, and tumor‐derived exosomes. Particular attention is given to the structural diversity of gold nanomaterials including nanoparticles, nanorods, nanostars, and core‐shell architectures, which enables finely tunable plasmonic and electrochemical performance, achieving femtomolar to attomolar detection limits. Collectively, this review underscores the strategic role of gold nanomaterials as the central nano structural backbone of next‐generation biosensing systems, paving the way toward minimally invasive, real‐time, and precision breast cancer diagnostics with strong translational potential.