Raman spectroscopy detects distant invasive brain cancer cells centimeters beyond MRI capability in humans

Michael Jermyn; Joannie Desroches; Jeanne Mercier; Karl St-Arnaud; Marie-Christine Guiot; Frederic Leblond; Kevin Petrecca

doi:10.1364/BOE.7.005129

Raman spectroscopy detects distant invasive brain cancer cells centimeters beyond MRI capability in humans

Biomed Opt Express. 2016 Nov 16;7(12):5129-5137. doi: 10.1364/BOE.7.005129. eCollection 2016 Dec 1.

Authors

Michael Jermyn¹, Joannie Desroches², Jeanne Mercier², Karl St-Arnaud², Marie-Christine Guiot³, Frederic Leblond⁴, Kevin Petrecca⁵

Affiliations

¹ Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, 14 Engineering Dr., Hanover, NH 03755, USA; Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, 3801 University St., Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4, Canada; Dept. of Engineering Physics, Polytechnique Montreal, CP 6079, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montreal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada.
² Dept. of Engineering Physics, Polytechnique Montreal, CP 6079, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montreal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada.
³ Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, 3801 University St., Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4, Canada; Division of Neuropathology, Department of Pathology, McGill University, 3801 University St., Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4, Canada.
⁴ Dept. of Engineering Physics, Polytechnique Montreal, CP 6079, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montreal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada; Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, 900 rue Saint-Denis, H2X 0A9, QC, Canada; These authors contributed equally to this work; frederic.leblond@polymtl.ca.
⁵ Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, 3801 University St., Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4, Canada; These authors contributed equally to this work; kevin.petrecca@mcgill.ca.

Abstract

Surgical treatment of brain cancer is limited by the inability of current imaging capabilities such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect the entirety of this locally invasive cancer. This results in residual cancer cells remaining following surgery, leading to recurrence and death. We demonstrate that intraoperative Raman spectroscopy can detect invasive cancer cells centimeters beyond pathological T1-contrast-enhanced and T2-weighted MRI signals. This intraoperative optical guide can be used to detect invasive cancer cells and minimize post-surgical cancer burden. The detection of distant invasive cancer cells beyond MRI signal has the potential to increase the effectiveness of surgery and directly lengthen patient survival.

Keywords: (170.1610) Clinical applications; (170.5660) Raman spectroscopy; (170.6935) Tissue characterization.