Spectrochemical analysis of liquid biopsy harnessed to multivariate analysis towards breast cancer screening

Abstract

Mortality due to breast cancer could be reduced via screening programs where preliminary clinical tests employed in an asymptomatic well-population with the objective of identifying cancer biomarkers could allow earlier referral of women with altered results for deeper clinical analysis and treatment. The introduction of well-population screening using new and less-invasive technologies as a strategy for earlier detection of breast cancer is thus highly desirable. Herein, spectrochemical analyses harnessed to multivariate classification techniques are used as a bio-analytical tool for a Breast Cancer Screening Program using liquid biopsy in the form of blood plasma samples collected from 476 patients recruited over a 2-year period. This methodology is based on acquiring and analysing the spectrochemical fingerprint of plasma samples by attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy; derived spectra reflect intrinsic biochemical composition, generating information on nucleic acids, carbohydrates, lipids and proteins. Excellent results in terms of sensitivity (94%) and specificity (91%) were obtained using this method in comparison with traditional mammography (88–93% and 85–94%, respectively). Additional advantages such as better disease prognosis thus allowing a more effective treatment, lower associated morbidity, fewer false-positive and false-negative results, lower-cost, and higher analytical frequency make this method attractive for translation to the clinical setting.

Ultrarapid On-Site Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Infection Using Simple ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy and an Analysis Algorithm: High Sensitivity and Specificity

“… 14 − 16 Readily accessible biofluids, such as blood plasma/serum, saliva, or urine, are considered ideal for clinical implementation due to routine methods of collection, as well as minimal sample preparation. 17 Interrogation of samples with infrared (IR) spectroscopic techniques allows for the generation of a “spectral fingerprint”, which subsequently facilitates the discrimination of the different populations and identification of potential biomarkers. 18 In the past few years, biofluid-based ATR-FTIR spectroscopy has been used for diagnosing, screening, or monitoring the progression/regression in a variety of diseases.…”

“…Vibrational spectroscopy, including attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, has been widely used to discriminate and classify normal and pathological populations using different cell types, tissues, or biofluids. − Readily accessible biofluids, such as blood plasma/serum, saliva, or urine, are considered ideal for clinical implementation due to routine methods of collection, as well as minimal sample preparation . Interrogation of samples with infrared (IR) spectroscopic techniques allows for the generation of a “spectral fingerprint”, which subsequently facilitates the discrimination of the different populations and identification of potential biomarkers .…”

Potential Role of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy as a Screening Approach for Breast Cancer

“…Therefore, these spectra can be considered fundamental and desirable due to their speed, convenience, and cost effectiveness. 27,56,75 In addition to the implementation of this proposed flow for screening and assistance in monitoring the behavior of a tumor for patients with breast cancer, we seek to contribute to the development through economical tools that are easily accessible to the entire population and consider the variations of the geographic and socioeconomic aspects of the country. 8,58,59,65,66,69,76…”

Detection of lipid efflux from foam cell models using a label-free infrared method

“…Conventionally, the fingerprint region is defined from 1800 cm −1 to 400 cm −1 or 1500 cm −1 to 400 cm −1 . [51][52][53][54][55] This region of the spectra contains a large number of peaks, being sensitive to functional groups of, amongst others, phosphates of the DNA backbone. The use of this glass substrate does not allow for the study of this region below 1350 cm −1 .…”