Olfactory Response of C. elegans and Chemotaxis Assays for Urine Analysis and Cancer Screening

Abstract

Cancer is an important disease for our society, which presents challenges in diagnostics
and treatment. Early cancer diagnosis is critical for proper treatment to start on time and to reduce
the time to recovery. Currently, a number of biomarkers in the human blood serve as suitable
indicators of cancer. Endoscopy is an alternative technique for cancer detection. In recent years,
worm assays have been investigated as a non-invasive alternative to cancer diagnosis based on the
olfactory response of C. elegans in microfluidics. These chemotaxis assays rely on the
chemosensory response of C. elegans to urine samples of cancer patients. To date, some types of
cancer have been detected by worm chemotaxis assays. In this review, we discuss these chemotaxis
assays for cancer detection that rely on C. elegans. The steps of worm synchronization,
chemotaxis, immobiliziation, and counting are discussed within the context of microfluidic
technology. In the near future, there is possibility of developing integrated worm assays as a viable
alternative to blood-based diagnostic tests for cancer screening.