Work

Aggressiveness evaluation of borderline serous ovarian tumors by analysis of Psammoma bodies present in cancer tissues using micro-FTIR spectroscopy

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: • Evaluation of borderline epithelial ovarian tumor aggressiveness is investigated. • IR analysis of psammoma bodies present in tumor of different grade was carried out. • Differences and similarities in the chemical content were evaluated. • The level of carbonate content in psammoma bodies of different tumors is compared. Borderline ovarian tumor is a type of tumor with generally low malignant potential. However, these tumors pose diagnostic challenges with benign and malignant epithelial ovarian tumors because the clinical symptoms are similar and investigation procedures for specific diagnosis are still debated. In addition, a small number of borderlines transform into high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma with a poor prognosis. Therefore, tools improving a better characterization of high-risk subtypes of borderline tumors to enable understanding of possible unfavorable evolution are essential for patients’ management. Psammoma bodies (PBs) are microcalcifications found both in serous epithelial ovarian cancer and serous borderline tumors with possible correlation with disease progression. In this work, the chemical composition of PBs found in the tissues of borderline, high-grade and low-grade ovarian tumors was evaluated using micro-FTIR spectroscopy. Applying principal component analysis to spectral data, it was observed that among the borderline tumors analyzed ( 1-bl , 2-bl and 3-bl ), the PBs of 3-bl showed a different chemical content from that of the PBs of the high-grade and low-grade tumors, while the PBs of 1-bl and 2-bl appeared to have similar chemical content to the PBs of high- and low-grade tumors. The discriminating wavenumbers were found to be those related to carbonate CO 3 2− (1454, 1413 cm −1 and 872 cm −1 ) and phosphate PO 4 3− (1018 cm −1 and 960 cm −1 ) present in microcalcifications. A higher ratio between peak intensities at 1413 cm −1 and 1018 cm −1 (I 1413 /I 1018 ) was observed in the PBs of 3-bl compared with those of high- and low-grade ovarian carcinoma patients, which correlates with higher CO 3 2− content. On the other hand, the PBs of 1-bl and 2-bl showed a CO 3 2− level close to that of the PBs of high- and low-grade patients. Several studies on microcalcifications in breast carcinoma have reported that increased carbonate content is related to decreased tumor aggressiveness. Therefore, case bl-3 appeared to be the less aggressive. The results obtained from FTIR analysis were in agreement with histopathological tumor classification and molecular analysis for BRAFV600E. The FTIR technique could become a reliable tool for identifying borderline low- and high-risk tumors.

Source: Spectrochimica Acta Part A Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy

DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2024.125301