Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has recently attracted much attention due to its ability to analyze biomolecular interactions and to detect certain biomolecules, which play a crucial role in disease expression. Despite recent studies reporting AFM imaging for the analyses of biomolecules, the application of AFM-based cancer-specific biomolecule/cell detection has remained largely underexplored, especially for the early diagnosis of cancer. In this paper, we review the recent attempts, including our efforts, to analyze and detect cancer-specific biomolecules and cancer cells. We particularly focus on two AFM-based cancer diagnosis techniques: (i) AFM imaging-based biomolecular and cellular detection, (ii) AFM cantilever-based biomolecular sensing and cell analysis. It is shown that AFM-based biomolecular detection has been applied for not only early diagnosing cancer, by measuring the minute amount of cancer-specific proteins, but also monitoring of cancer progression, by correlating the amount of cancer-specific proteins with the progression of cancer. In addition, AFM-based cell imaging and detection have been employed for diagnosing cancer, by detecting cancerous cells in tissue, as well as understanding cancer progression, by characterizing the dynamics of cancer cells. This review, therefore, highlights AFM-based biomolecule/cell detection, which will pave the way for developing a fast and point-of-care diagnostic system for biomedical applications.

原子力显微镜（AFM）最近因其分析生物分子相互作用和检测某些生物分子的能力而备受关注，而生物分子在疾病表达中起着至关重要的作用。尽管最近的研究报道了用于生物分子分析的AFM成像，但基于AFM的癌症特异性生物分子/细胞检测的应用仍未得到充分开发，特别是对于癌症的早期诊断。在本文中，我们回顾了最近的尝试，包括我们的努力，以分析和检测特定于癌症的生物分子和癌细胞。我们特别关注基于AFM的两种癌症诊断技术：（i）基于AFM成像的生物分子和细胞检测，（ii）基于AFM悬臂的生物分子传感和细胞分析。结果表明，基于原子力显微镜的生物分子检测不仅已通过测量微量的癌症特异性蛋白用于癌症的早期诊断，而且还通过将癌症特异性蛋白的数量与肝癌的进展相关联来监测癌症的进展。癌症。另外，基于AFM的细胞成像和检测已被用于通过检测组织中的癌细胞来诊断癌症，以及通过表征癌细胞的动力学来了解癌症的进展。因此，本综述重点介绍了基于AFM的生物分子/细胞检测，这将为开发用于生物医学应用的快速即时诊断系统铺平道路。通过将癌症特异性蛋白质的数量与癌症进展相关联。另外，基于AFM的细胞成像和检测已被用于通过检测组织中的癌细胞来诊断癌症，以及通过表征癌细胞的动力学来了解癌症的进展。因此，本综述重点介绍了基于AFM的生物分子/细胞检测，这将为开发用于生物医学应用的快速即时诊断系统铺平道路。通过将癌症特异性蛋白质的数量与癌症进展相关联。另外，基于AFM的细胞成像和检测已被用于通过检测组织中的癌细胞来诊断癌症，以及通过表征癌细胞的动力学来了解癌症的进展。因此，本综述重点介绍了基于AFM的生物分子/细胞检测，这将为开发用于生物医学应用的快速即时诊断系统铺平道路。