Quantitative Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (qLAMP) for the Rapid Discrimination of Normal and Cancerous Tissue Models - An Arduino-Based Portable Cancer Detection System Assisted by a pH Microelectrode

Sep 22, 2026

Cancer is a major global health burden, and widespread, accessible, early diagnostics are the most cost-effective approach to reduce cancer impact. Point-of-care (POC) systems enable rapid, low-cost diagnosis by bringing testing to the clinical site. This work presents a portable Arduino-based loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) platform using early reaction trajectory to quantify amplification rate (mP3). mP3 values separated spheroids from multiple cell lines and correlated with qPCR and immunostaining trends. Clustering and principal component analysis showed the qLAMP approach can distinguish tissue spheroids using selected gene expression.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Point-of-care cancer diagnostics and need for early detection

Portable isothermal amplification strategy (qLAMP)

Article Quantitative Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (qLAMP) for the Rapid Discrimination of Normal and Cancerous Tissue Models: An Arduino-Based Portable Cancer Detection System Assisted by a pH Microelectrode Sergio Bravo-González 1,†, Luisa María Reyes-Cortés 1,†, Kristen Aideé Pérez-Alvarez 1, Grissel Trujillo-de Santiago 1,2,3, * and Mario Moisés Álvarez 1,2,3, * Received: 29 June 2026 Revised: 31 July 2026 Accepted: 14 August 2026 Published: 20 August 2026 Copyright: © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. 1 Centro de Biotecnología-FEMSA, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Ave. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey 64700, NL, Mexico; [a01191795@exatec.tec.mx](a01191795@exatec.tec.mx) (S.B.-G.); [a01032401@tec.mx](a01032401@tec.mx) (L.M.R.-C.); [a00829551@exatec.tec.mx](a00829551@exatec.tec.mx) (K.A.P.-A.) 2 Departamento de Mecatrónica, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Ave. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey 64700, NL, Mexico 3 Advanced Biofabrication, Expedition-FEMSA, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Ave. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey 64700, NL, Mexico * Correspondence: [grissel@tec.mx](grissel@tec.mx) (G.T.-d.S.); [mario.alvarez@tec.mx](mario.alvarez@tec.mx) (M.M.Á .)† These authors contributed equally to this work. Abstract Cancer, the second leading cause of death worldwide, is a significant global challenge, and widespread, accessible, and early diagnostics are recognized as the most cost-effective strategies for reducing cancer burdens. Point-of-care (POC) systems offer an attractive alternative by enabling rapid and cost-effective diagnoses. We introduce a novel POC strategy for cancer biomarker identification based on monitoring the isothermal amplification of relevant cancer markers using a portable Arduino-based loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) system. The trajectory of the LAMP reaction during the first 3 min of the reaction is used as an indicator of the rate of amplification (defined as the mP3 value) . We obtained sets of mP3 values that showed statistically significant differences in the genetic expression of four genes (ESR 1, PGR, Her2, and Ki67) within and between tissue spheroids derived from the MCF7, MDA-MB-231, Du145, and BJ fibroblast cell lines. We then used principal component analysis and clustering techniques to demonstrate that the mP3 value sets derived from the expression of the four selected genes are sufficient to distinguish tissue spheroids derived from four different commercial cell lines. Further qPCR and immunostaining assays confirmed the quantitative LAMP (qLAMP) experimental trends. The immunostaining results were consistent with previous literature reports and with our qLAMP and qPCR results. We present a proof-of-concept demonstration of the use of a LAMP-based POC platform for the identification or discrimination of cancer tissues. Our strategy can be extended to other diseases associated with altered gene expression in body tissues or fluids. Keywords: LAMP; point-of-care (POC); biomarker; cancer; diagnostic; spheroid 1. Introduction Today, cancer remains a significant global health challenge, ranking as the second leading cause of death worldwide [1] . However, the burden of cancer is not equally distributed among our societies [1] . Indeed, the burden of cancer is rising in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), where approximately 65% of global cancer-related deaths occur annually [2] . Early diagnostics have been recognized as the most cost-effective strategy for reducing cancer burden [2–4] . Nevertheless, the diagnosis of cancer continues to be an enormous challenge, precisely in underdeveloped economies. Current detection strategies require highly trained specialists and sophisticated equipment. The use of spec

FAQs

What problem does this qLAMP system aim to address?

It targets the need for widespread, accessible, and early cancer diagnostics by providing a rapid and cost-effective point-of-care workflow.

How is the amplification rate quantified in the Arduino-based LAMP approach?

The method uses the LAMP reaction trajectory during the first 3 minutes to compute an amplification rate indicator called the mP3 value.

How do the results validate that qLAMP can discriminate cancer-related tissue models?

The study uses principal component analysis and clustering to distinguish spheroids from different cell lines, and confirms qLAMP trends with qPCR and immunostaining assays.

Sep 22, 2026

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