Gold Nanoparticle-Assisted Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) with Machine Learning Tools for the Early Screening of Blood Serum for Tongue Cancer

Analytical Letters, pp. 1–20

Abstract

Tongue cancer, a subtype of oral squamous cell cancer (OSCC), is regarded as one of the most widespread as well as aggressive lesions of the oral cavity, comprising approximately 25%–40% of oral cancers worldwide. Conventional diagnostic methods include histopathology, biopsy, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which provide meaningful diagnostic data but are often invasive, time-consuming, and lack molecular specificity. Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) employed gold nanoparticles (Au–NPs) that provide a very sensitive and noninvasive method in order to detect cancer through molecular fingerprinting of blood serum. The gold nanoparticles are further explored for the detailed study of different stages of tongue cancer because gold nanoparticles (Au–NPs) provide different SERS features than silver nanoparticles (Ag–NPs). The major differentiating SERS features include biocompatibility, signal enhancement, chemical stability, and surface chemistry. This study aimed to characterize serum samples using SERS along with the chemometric tools like principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). PCA reduced the dimensionality of complex spectral datasets. PLS-DA was effectively distinguished between the SERS spectral groups of cancerous and non-cancerous samples by achieving an area under the curve value of 0.88, specificity (98%), sensitivity (99%), and accuracy (100%). Unlike previous research that focused on tissue-based Raman analysis, this work optimized gold nanoparticle-based SERS for serum characterization, enhancing early detection capabilities.

Authors 15

1. Areej

   University of Agriculture Faisalabad

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad

2. Haq Nawaz corresponding

   University of Agriculture Faisalabad

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad

3. Muhammad Irfan Majeed corresponding

   University of Agriculture Faisalabad

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad

4. Nosheen Rashid

   University of Education

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Chemistry, University of Education

5. Hafiza Elbadie Ahmed

   Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Computer Sciences, College of Computer and Information Sciences, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University

6. Kinza Khan

   University of Agriculture Faisalabad

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad

7. Winnand Philipp Aachen Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

   Universitätsklinikum Aachen · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital RWTH Aachen

8. Nils Vohl Aachen Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

   Universitätsklinikum Aachen · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital RWTH Aachen

9. Allah Ditta Aachen Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

   Universitätsklinikum Aachen · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital RWTH Aachen

10. Sundas Irshad

    University of Agriculture Faisalabad

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad

11. Aqsa Nawaz

    University of Agriculture Faisalabad

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad

12. Muqaddas Fatima

    University of Agriculture Faisalabad

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad

13. Samra Ashfaq

    University of Agriculture Faisalabad

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad

14. Rifsha Rabbani

    University of Agriculture Faisalabad

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad

15. Muhammad Imran

    King Khalid University

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University