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Diagnosis and demarcation of skin malignancy using elastic light single-scattering spectroscopy: a pilot study
Murat Canpolat1, Ayşe Akman-Karakaş, Güzide Ayşe Gökhan-Ocak
1Department of Biophysics, School of Medicine, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey. canpolat@akdeniz.edu.tr
Background:
Elastic light single-scattering spectroscopy (ELSSS) is a noninvasive and real-time technique that has been used to differentiate tumors from surrounding nontumor tissue in animal models and humans.
Objective:
To investigate potential application of ELSSS as an adjunctive tool for noninvasive, in vivo, real-time differentiation of malignant and benign skin lesions and to detect positive surgical margins of excised biopsy samples.
Methods:
In vivo spectroscopic measurements were performed on 28 lesions in 23 patients. The distribution of the lesions was as follows: nine basal cell carcinoma (BCC), four melanoma, two squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and 13 benign lesions. Intraoperative margin assessments were performed on the 28 biopsy samples using ELSSS.
Results:
The sign of the spectral slopes was positive for benign and negative for malignant tissues. It was used as a discrimination parameter between malignant and benign lesions with a sensitivity and specificity of 87% and 85%, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of the system in detecting positive surgical margins on 14 excised biopsy samples were 80% and 90%, respectively.
Conclusion:
ELSSS has the potential for use as an adjunctive tool to reduce the number of negative biopsies and to detect positive surgical margins in real time.
