Raman microspectroscopic study for the detection of oral field cancerisation using brush biopsy samples

Field cancerisation (FC) is potentially an underlying cause of poor treatment outcomes of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). To explore the phenomenon using Raman microspectroscopy, brush biopsies from the buccal mucosa, tongue, gingiva and alveolus of healthy donors (n = 40) and from potentially malignant lesions (PML) of Dysplasia Clinic patients (n = 40) were examined. Contralateral normal samples (n = 38) were also collected from the patients. Raman spectra were acquired from the nucleus and cytoplasm of each cell, and subjected to partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). High discriminatory accuracy for donor and PML samples was achieved for both cytopalmic and nuclear data sets. Notably, contralateral normal (patient) samples were also accurately discriminated from donor samples and contralateral normal samples from patients with multiple lesions showed a similar spectral profile to PML samples, strongly indicating a FC effect. These findings support the potential of Raman microspectroscopy as a screening tool for PML using oral exfoliated cells.