One-Drop Serum Screening Test for Anal Cancer in Men via Infrared Attenuated Total Reflection Spectroscopy

• Published in: Analytical chemistry (Washington) 2022-11, Vol.94 (44), p.15250-15260
• Main Authors: Alcántara-Quintana, Luz Eugenia, López-Mendoza, Carlos Miguel, Rodríguez-Aguilar, Maribel, Medellín-Castillo, Nahum, Mizaikoff, Boris, Flores-Ramírez, Rogelio, Galván-Romero, Vanessa Sarahí, Díaz de León-Martínez, Lorena
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anal cancer; Anus; Cancer; Chemistry; Colorectal cancer; Human papillomavirus; Infrared reflection; Infrared spectroscopy; Medical screening; Nondestructive testing; Nucleic acids; Risk analysis; Risk factors; Sensitivity; Sensitivity analysis; Signs and symptoms; Spectroscopy; Spectrum analysis; Test ranges
• ISSN: 0003-2700; 1520-6882
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.2c02439

Rare cancers are a challenge for clinical practice, the treatment experience at major centers to which rare cancers are referred is limited and are the most difficult to diagnose. Research to identify causes or develop prevention and early detection strategies is extremely challenging. Anal cancer is an example of a rare cancer, with the human papillomavirus (HPV) infection being the most important risk factor associated. In the early stages, anal cancer does not exhibit evident symptoms. This disease is diagnosed by means of anoscopy, which diagnoses some cases of early cancer; nevertheless, sensitivity of this test ranges between 47 and 89%. Therefore, the development of new, effective, and evidence-based screening methodologies for the early detection of rare cancers is of great relevance. In this study, the potential of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy has been explored as a sensitive, nondestructive, and inexpensive analytical method for developing disease screening platforms in serum. Spectral differences were found in the regions of 1700–1100 and 1700–1400 cm–1 between the control group and the anal cancer group related to the presence of proteins and nucleic acids. The chemometric analysis presented differences in the spectral fingerprints for both spectral regions with a high sensitivity ranging from 95.2 to 99.9% and a specificity ranging from 99.2 to 100%. This is the first step that we report for a methodology that is fast, nondestructive, and easy to perform, and the high sensitivity and specificity of the method are the basis for extensive research studies to implement these technologies in the clinical field.