Differentiation of small round blue cell tumors using Raman spectroscopy

PurposeSmall round blue cell tumors (SRBCTs) are aggressive undifferentiated embryonal tumors, including neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. They share similar histologic features. Additional studies such as immunohistochemistry and molecular techniques are required to differentiate them. There is no widely available tool for real-time diagnosis. Raman spectroscopy is an analytical technique with potential for quick and accurate diagnosis of tumors in near real-time.MethodsFresh or banked frozen tissue samples from SRBCTs were processed for routine pathology and Raman spectroscopy. Raman results were correlated with the final pathology diagnosis.ResultsThe data set was composed of 480 spectra from 32 samples, including 179 neuroblastoma, 37 Ewing sarcoma, 164 rhabdomyosarcoma, and 100 non-Hodgkin lymphoma spectra.Discriminant function analysis showed that a combination of 18 peaks could accurately identify 94% of spectra. At the tissue level, all tumors were correctly identified.Only 10 peaks were needed to classify all tissues with 100% accuracy. Spectral-level classification with this model was 87.9%.ConclusionRaman spectroscopy is an accurate technique for quickly and accurately differentiating SRBCTs. It could diagnose these specimens and provide a single, easy to use test for near real-time diagnosis.