Raman spectral cytopathology for cancer diagnostic applications
Well done to Fiona Lyng, and team, including longstanding collaborators from the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital, Dublin, St James’s Hospital, Dublin, and Dublin Dental University Hospital, who have harnessed their expertise in clinical spectroscopic cytology in the form of a Nature Protocol, published today. “Raman spectral cytopathology for cancer diagnostic applications”, describes the use of Raman spectroscopy for the rapid, label-free, nondestructive screening for cervical and lung cancer and for monitoring suspicious lesions for oral cancer and diagnosis. The protocol is based on over a decade of expertise in the field, and refinement of the sample and data processing, and measurement techniques. Critically, the technique detects biochemical abnormalities in the cells, rather than relying on the visual determination of morphological abnormalities, and thus has significantly improved sensitivity and specificity, compared to conventional cytological techniques, is objective, and automatable.