Optical pre-screening for laryngeal cancer using reflectance spectroscopy of the buccal mucosa

A new approach in early cancer detection focuses on detecting field cancerization (FC) instead of the tumor itself. The aim of the current study is to investigate whether reflectance spectroscopy can detect FC in the buccal mucosa of patients with laryngeal cancer. The optical properties of the buccal mucosa of patients were measured with multidiameter single-fiber reflectance spectroscopy. The blood oxygen saturation and blood volume fraction were significantly lower in the buccal mucosa of laryngeal cancer patients than in non-oncologic controls. The data of these two parameters were combined to form a single ‘biomarker α’, which optimally discriminates these two groups. Alpha was lower in the laryngeal cancer group (0.28) than the control group (0.30, p = 0.007). Alpha could identify oncologic patients with a sensitivity of 78% and a specificity of 74%. These results might be the first step toward optical pre-screening for laryngeal cancer.

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