RAMAN spectroscopy imaging improves the diagnosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma

Abstract

Recent investigations strongly suggest that Raman spectroscopy (RS) can be used as a clinical tool in cancer diagnosis to improve diagnostic accuracy. In this study, we evaluated the efficiency of Raman imaging microscopy to discriminate between healthy and neoplastic thyroid tissue, by analyzing main variants of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma (PTC), the most common type of thyroid cancer. We performed Raman imaging of large tissue areas (from 100 × 100 μm2 up to 1 × 1 mm2), collecting 38 maps containing about 9000 Raman spectra. Multivariate statistical methods, including Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), were applied to translate Raman spectra differences between healthy and PTC tissues into diagnostically useful information for a reliable tissue classification. Our study is the first demonstration of specific biochemical features of the PTC profile, characterized by significant presence of carotenoids with respect to the healthy tissue. Moreover, this is the first evidence of Raman spectra differentiation between classical and follicular variant of PTC, discriminated by LDA with high efficiency. The combined histological and Raman microscopy analyses allow clear-cut integration of morphological and biochemical observations, with dramatic improvement of efficiency and reliability in the differential diagnosis of neoplastic thyroid nodules, paving the way to integrative findings for tumorigenesis and novel therapeutic strategies.

In vivo Microscopic Photoacoustic Spectroscopy for Non-Invasive Glucose Monitoring Invulnerable to Skin Secretion Products

“…This special chemical imaging approach clinically allows for the diagnosis of the malfunction of sweat pores by accurately mapping active sweat pores as a function of spatial position without using added labels or dyes 31 as well as for a component analysis of the sweat and skin conditions. Moreover, it can also be used to discriminate tumors extracted via biopsy including skin cancers 44 – 46 . By directly analyzing the components of the fluids using the photoacoustic spectroscopic imaging, various studies of microfluidic processes can also be conducted, ranging from reactions to the separation of large volumes for chemical and biological analysis 47 , 48 .…”

Deep-Ultraviolet Raman Spectroscopy for Cancer Diagnostics: A Feasibility Study with Cell Lines and Tissues

“…through their unique vibrational signatures has been well demonstrated. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Traditional RS has two main drawbacks: (1) a low efficiency (one RS photon is detected per 107 photons irradiating a sample) of the inelastic light scattering compared to elastic scattering 20,21 and (2) inherent fluorescence which accompanies RS studies. 22 For example, using a traditional 785 nm excitation for RS, one typically records lowlevel noisy Raman signals.…”

Raman spectroscopy for the preoperative diagnosis of thyroid cancer and its subtypes: An in vitro proof‐of‐concept study

“…Raman spectroscopy has shown promising results for the detection of multiple cancers including cervical, gastrointestinal, breast, brain and lung cancer . The application of Raman spectroscopy for TC diagnosis has also been investigated in studies utilising cell lines, and tissue sections . Harris et al applied Raman spectroscopy to two thyroid cell lines, one cancer cell line (8505C, representing UTC) and one benign cell line (Nthy‐ori 3‐1), to analyse the cellular differences between benign and malignant cells.…”

“…Recent studies have also investigated the feasibility of applying Raman spectroscopy to thyroid tissue samples to detect cancer. These studies used multivariate statistical analysis of Raman spectra to achieve high diagnostic sensitivities and specificities for discrimination between healthy thyroid tissue and TC, and follicular patterned thyroid …”