Serum Raman spectroscopy: Prognostic applications in oral cancers

• Published in: Head & neck Vol. 45; no. 5; pp. 1244 - 1254
• Main Authors: Saha, Panchali, Sawant, Sharada, Deshmukh, Atul, Hole, Arti, Murali Krishna, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.05.2023; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Discriminant Analysis; Humans; loco‐regional recurrence; Mouth Neoplasms; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; Oral cancer; oral squamous cell carcinoma; Principal Component Analysis; Prognosis; Raman spectroscopy; serum; Spectrum Analysis, Raman - methods; Squamous cell carcinoma; Surgery; oral squamous cell carcinoma; Raman spectroscopy; serum; loco-regional recurrence
• ISSN: 1043-3074; 1097-0347; 1097-0347
• DOI: 10.1002/hed.27338

Background Loco‐regional recurrences attributable to field cancerization and minimal residual cancer, remain prime causes of mortality in oral cancer (OC) subjects. The current study evaluates potential of serum Raman spectroscopy (SRS) to identify recurrence‐prone OC subjects. Methods Raman spectra of serum from eight healthy subjects (H) and 57 OC subjects (with‐recurrence [R], without‐recurrence [NR], and with suspicious‐lesions [S]), before (BS) and after (AS) surgical excision of tumor were recorded. OC subjects were followed‐up for 7‐years. Results DNA and protein alterations were observed in AS sera of all groups. 4‐, 3‐, and 2‐model multivariate analyses were used to stratify BS and AS groups. H spectra were 100% distinguishable from all other groups. AS, R and NR were distinguished with high accuracy (84%) in all models. No stratification (~50%) was observed BS. Conclusion SRS shows potential to identify recurrence prone subjects, post‐surgery, using serum collected as early as 1 week after surgery.