Pilot research on the evaluation and detection of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma by Raman spectroscopy

Head and neck cancer is a broad term that covers the heterogeneous group of cancers that arise in the upper aero and digestive tract, including oral cavity, pharynx and larynx. Over 90% of this type of cancers are developed in the squamous cell epithelium of the mucosal linings and are, therefore, known as head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Related with this carcinoma, current methods used for discriminating between these tumor cells and the healthy ones are slow and not specific enough or interfere with the tissue modifying it. The development of more efficient and in situ optical methodologies for HNSCC detection is required to diagnose in shorter periods. Raman spectroscopy is an emerging biophotonic tool that has greatly advanced because of steady improvements in instrumentation for excitation, data collection and in the availability of fiber optic probes. The evaluation of the viability of Raman spectroscopy for discriminating between normal and HNSCC cells by the interpretation of quantitative molecular changes was the main objective of this work. Thus, an ex vivo study with mucosa samples of healthy or carcinoma tissue of oral and pharynx cavity was analyzed to assess and quantitate the biochemical variations at the characteristic Raman peaks correspondent to DNA, amide I, amide III, phenylalanine and other proteins and lipids. With those data, three indexes were established as indicators of HNSCC. The potentiality of Raman spectroscopy for an efficient diagnosis of HNSCC was demonstrated. Copyright (C) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.