A biospectroscopic interrogation of fine needle aspirates points towards segregation between graded categories: an initial study towards diagnostic screening

Abstract

Fine needle aspirates (FNAs) of suspicious breast lesions are often used to aid the diagnosis of female breast cancer. Biospectroscopy tools facilitate the acquisition of a biochemical cell fingerprint representative of chemical bonds present in a biological sample. The mid-infrared (IR; 4,000-400 cm(-1)) is absorbed by the chemical bonds present, allowing one to derive an absorbance spectrum. Complementary to IR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy measures the scattering by chemical bonds following excitation by a laser to generate an intensity spectrum. Our objective was to apply these methods to determine whether a biospectroscopy approach could objectively segregate different categories of FNAs. FNAs of breast tissue were collected (n = 48) in a preservative solution and graded into categories by a cytologist as C1 (non-diagnostic), C2 (benign), C3 (suspicious, probably benign) or C5 (malignant) [or C4 (suspicious, probably malignant); no samples falling within this category were identified during the collection period of the study]. Following washing, the cellular material was transferred onto BaF(2) (IR-transparent) slides for interrogation by Raman or Fourier-transform IR (FTIR) microspectroscopy. In some cases where sufficient material was obtained, this was transferred to low-E (IR-reflective) glass slides for attenuated total reflection-FTIR spectroscopy. The spectral datasets produced from these techniques required multivariate analysis for data handling. Principal component analysis followed by linear discriminant analysis was performed independently on each of the spectral datasets for only C2, C3 and C5. The resulting scores plots revealed a marked overlap of C2 with C3 and C5, although the latter pair were both significantly segregated (P < 0.001) in the Raman spectra. Good separation was observed between C3 and C5 in all three spectral datasets. Analysis performed on the average spectra showed the presence of three distinct cytological groups. Our findings suggest that biospectroscopy tools coupled with multivariate analysis may support the current FNA tests whilst increasing the sensitivity and associated reliability for improved diagnostics.

Characterization of ovarian cancer cells and tissues by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

“…Many studies by this technique have been focused on several cancer cells or tissues, such as endometrial [ 15 ], cervical [ 16 ], breast [ 17 ], lung [ 18 ] and brain cancers [ 19 ]. Few studies have screened ovarian cancer by FTIR.…”

Vibrational biospectroscopy coupled with multivariate analysis extracts potentially diagnostic features in blood plasma/serum of ovarian cancer patients

“…ATR-FTIR and Raman spectroscopy have been utilized to investigate molecular alterations and to detect diseased states in different tissues and cells including a variety of cancers. These include endometrial cancer [13], cervical cancer and pre-cancer [14][15], prostate cancer [16], brain tumours [17] and breast cancer [18].…”

Attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectral discrimination in human bodily fluids of oesophageal transformation to adenocarcinoma

“…ATR-FTIR spectroscopy has been used to identify neoplasia in ovary, 22 cervix, 23 breast, 24 brain, 25 prostate, 26 lung, 27 skin, 28 thyroid, 29 stomach, 30 colon 31 and pancreas. 32 Several groups have used IR spectroscopy for the detection of Barrett's oesophagus and pre-cancerous changes in oesophageal tissues.…”