Pancreatic cancer presents an increasing mortality burden, with little improvement in survival rates since 1970, largely because of the non-resectable status of most tumours at diagnosis and high rate of recurrence after resection. Currently, there are significant problems with accurately identifying tumour margins, both during surgery and through histopathology, causing limitations in clinical practice and research. This presents a need for clinically applicable research, to improve detection and differentiation of healthy and cancerous tissue in the exocrine pancreas.
SPARC has been shown to play a role and be expressed in the development of pancreatic cancer and has recently been identified as a potential biomarker for the disease. Raman spectroscopy is an emerging technology, showing promise in the detection and surgical guidance of many cancers. There is, however, limited research on its use in pancreatic cancer.
This study aims to investigate the utility of Raman spectroscopy in identifying and exploring the development of pancreatic cancer and differences between healthy and cancerous pancreatic tissue, which could eventually allow translation to clinical practice.
This study identifies differences between healthy and cancerous pancreatic tissue, using Raman spectroscopy in human tumour resections and blood samples. Differences are seen due to proline and nucleic acids in fresh tissue and collagen in fixed tissue. It further utilises a 2D cell-line model, Raman spectroscopy and ELISA, providing greater understanding of the interactions between cancer and stellate cells, including the production of SPARC and collagen, in pancreatic cancer.
This study concludes by proposing a hypothesis, highlighting the importance of collagen, SPARC and their potential roles in causing biochemical changes to cancer cells and as possible biomarkers. Overall, it demonstrates the potential utility of Raman spectroscopy in pancreatic cancer, providing the basis for further research and translation to clinical practice, improving survival rates and reducing the mortality burden currently associated with the disease.