Pancreatic cancer is increasingly prevalent and characterized by a high mortality rate. Due to the limitations of current diagnostic methods, early-stage detection remains elusive, contributing to persistently low survival rates among affected individuals. Nanomaterials have garnered significant attention in cancer research for their potential diagnostic applications. Among these, MXenes – a novel family of two-dimensional nanomaterials composed of transition metal carbides, nitrides, and carbonitrides – are of particular interest due to their unique properties. These include high electrical conductivity, hydrophilicity, thermal stability, large interlayer spacing, tunable structure, and high surface area. These characteristics make MXenes highly effective for detecting trace amounts of various analytes. In addition, their tunable structure enables precise manipulation of their properties, allowing for optimized sensing responses. Montmorillonite nanoclay (MMT), a member of the smectite group of natural clay minerals, is known for its ability to promote bone development and influence cell behavior. When combined with MXenes, MMT forms promising nanocomposites for early pancreatic cancer detection through sensing applications. The Ti3C2 MXene-MMT nanocomposites exhibit potential as scaffold sensors capable of distinguishing cancerous from non-cancerous samples by observing the distinctive patterns in resistance changes. In addition, MXenes possess excellent selectivity, allowing for the reliable identification of targeted analytes from a complex mixture of chemical and biological analytes. Due to the advanced sensing capabilities of MXene-MMT composite scaffold sensors, they hold great promise for early cancer diagnosis and tissue regeneration, providing a novel therapeutic approach to improving patient outcomes.

Major advances in cancer control can be greatly aided by early diagnosis and effective treatment in its pre-invasive state. Lung cancer (small cell and non-small cell) is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among both men and women around the world. A lot of research attention has been directed toward diagnosing and treating lung cancer. A common method of lung cancer treatment is based on COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2) inhibitors. This is because COX-2 is commonly overexpressed in lung cancer and also the abundance of its enzymatic product prostaglandin E2 (PGE₂). Instead of using traditional COX-2 inhibitors to treat lung cancer, here, we introduce a new anti-cancer strategy recently developed for lung cancer treatment. It adopts more abundant omega-6 (ω-6) fatty acids such as dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA) in the daily diet and the commonly high levels of COX-2 expressed in lung cancer to promote the formation of 8-hydroxyoctanoic acid (8-HOA) through a new delta-5-desaturase (D5Di) inhibitor. The D5Di does not only limit the metabolic product, PGE_2, but also promote the COX-2 catalyzed DGLA peroxidation to form 8-HOA, a novel anti-cancer free radical byproduct. Therefore, the measurement of the PGE₂ and 8-HOA levels in cancer cells can be an effective method to treat lung cancer by providing in-time guidance. In this paper, we mainly report on a novel sensor, which is based on a newly developed functionalized nanomaterial, 2-dimensional nanosheets, or Ti₃C₂ MXene. The preliminary results have proven to sensitively, selectively, precisely, and effectively detect PGE₂ and 8-HOA in A549 lung cancer cells. The capability of the sensor to detect trace level 8-HOA in A549 has been verified in comparison with the traditional gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) method. The sensing principle could be due to the unique structure and material property of Ti₃C₂ MXene: a multilayered structure and extremely large surface area, metallic conductivity, and ease and versatility in surface modification. All these make the Ti₃C₂ MXene-based sensor selectively adsorb 8-HOA molecules through effective charge transfer and lead to a measurable change in the conductivity of the material with a high signal-to-noise ratio and excellent sensitivity.

The acetone content in the exhaled breath of individuals as a biomarker of diabetes has become widely studied as a non-invasive means of quantifying blood glucose levels. This calls for development of sensors for the quantitative analysis of trace concentration of acetone, which is presents in the human exhaled breath. Traditional gas detection systems, such as the Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry and several types of chemiresistive sensors are currently being used for this purpose. However, these systems are known to have limitations of size, cost, response time, operating conditions, and consistent accuracy. An ideal breath acetone sensor should provide solutions to overcome the above limitations and provide good stability and reliability. It should be a simple and portable detection system of good sensitivity, selectivity that is low in terms of both cost and power consumption. To achieve this goal, in this paper, we report a new sensing nanomaterial made by nanocomposite, 1D KWO (K₂W₇O₂₂) nanorods/2D Ti₃C₂T_x nanosheets, as the key component to design an acetone sensor. The preliminary result exhibits that the new nanocomposite has an improved response to acetone, with 10 times higher sensitivity comparing to KWO-based sensor, much better tolerance of humidity interference and enhanced stability for multiple months. By comparing with other nanomaterials: Ti₃C₂, KWO, and KWO/Ti₃C₂T_x nanocomposites with variable ratio of KWO and Ti₃C₂T_x from 1:1, 1:2, 1:5, 2:1, 4:1, and 9:1, the initial results confirm the potential of the novel KWO/Ti₃C₂ (2:1) nanocomposite to be an excellent sensing material for application in sensitive and selective detection of breath acetone for diabetics health care and prevention.

Major advances in cancer control can be greatly aided by early diagnosis and effective treatment in its pre-invasive state. Lung cancer (small cell and non-small cell) is a leading cause of cancer-related death among both men and women around the world. A lot of research attention has been attracted to diagnosing and treating lung cancer. A common method of lung cancer treatment is based on COX-2 (Cyclooxygenase-2) inhibitors. This is because COX-2 is commonly over expressed in lung cancer and also the abundance of its enzymatic product Prostaglandin E2 (PGE₂). Instead of using traditional COX-2 inhibitors to treat lung cancer, here, we report a new anti-cancer strategy recently developed for lung cancer treatment. It adopts more abundant omega-6 (ω-6)fatty acids such as dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA) in the daily diet and the commonly high levels of COX expressed in lung cancer to promote the formation of 8-hydroxyoctanoic acid (8-HOA) through a new delta-5-desaturase (D5Di) inhibitor. The D5Di will not only limit the metabolic product, PGE₂ but also promote the COX-2 catalyzed DGLA peroxidation to form 8-HOA, a novel anti-cancer free radical byproduct. Therefore, the measurement of the PGE₂ and 8-HOA levels in cancer cells can be an effective method to treat lung cancer by providing in-time guidance. A novel sensor based on a newly developed functionalized nanomaterial, 2-dimensional nanosheets, Ti₃C₂ MXene, has proved to sensitively, selectively, precisely and effectively detect PGE₂ and 8-HOA in A549 lung cancer cells. Due to the multilayered structure and extremely large surface area, metallic conductivity and easy and versatile in surface modification, Ti₃C₂ MXene-based sensor will be able to selectively adsorb different molecules through physical adsorption or electrostatic attraction, and lead to a measurable change in the conductivity of the material with high signal-to-noise ratio and excellent sensitivity.