As a highly malignant disease that is common in children, the quick detection of leukemia is very desirable. However, current leukemia assays, such as specific mutations by PCR, usually take at least one day and are expensive.

Omid Akhavan, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, and colleagues report a fast and low-cost detection method for leukemia using graphene-based materials. Using graphene oxide nanoplatelets (GONPs) in the extraction of overexpressed guanine synthesized in the cytoplasm of leukemia cells as well as reduced graphene oxide nanowall (rGONW) electrodes, they were able to significantly lower the detection limit of leukemia cells in differential pulse voltammetry (DPV).
Oxidation of the extracted guanine on the rGONWs lead to stability of the DPV signals.

While being an inexpensive and fast test (2.5 hours), the researchers also note that their approach is five orders of magnitude more sensitive than current technology.

• Ultra Sensitive Detection of Leukemia by Graphene,
  O. Akhavan, E. Ghaderi, Ehsan Hashemi, Reza Rahighi,
  Nanoscale 2014.
  DOI: 10.1039/c4nr04589k