Identifying functioning and nonfunctioning adrenal tumors based on blood serum surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Biochemistry
• Spectroscopy

Background:

• Adrenal tumors are common and require precise diagnosis for effective treatment.
• Nonfunctioning adrenal tumors often present with subtle symptoms, complicating early detection.
• Accurate differentiation between functioning and nonfunctioning adrenal tumors is crucial for guiding patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) as a diagnostic tool for adrenal tumors.
• To identify potential blood serum biomarkers for differentiating adrenal tumors from healthy individuals.
• To distinguish between functioning and nonfunctioning adrenal tumors using SERS analysis.

Main Methods:

• Blood serum samples from healthy volunteers and patients with functioning or nonfunctioning adrenal tumors were analyzed using SERS.
• SERS spectral data were analyzed to identify characteristic metabolite peaks.
• Principal component analysis combined with support vector machine (PCA-SVM) was employed for classification.

Main Results:

• Abnormalities in glycolysis, DNA/RNA, and amino acid metabolites were identified as potential biomarkers for adrenal tumors.
• Metabolites linked to protein catabolism and hormone secretion helped differentiate functioning from nonfunctioning tumors.
• PCA-SVM achieved high classification accuracies: 96.8% for healthy vs. adrenal tumor, and 84.5% for functioning vs. nonfunctioning adrenal tumor.

Conclusions:

• SERS analysis of blood serum shows significant potential for precise adrenal tumor diagnosis.
• This technique can effectively differentiate between healthy individuals and those with adrenal tumors.
• SERS provides a viable method for distinguishing between functioning and nonfunctioning adrenal tumors, aiding in personalized treatment strategies.