Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy as a diagnostic tool for distinguishing between normal and malignant human gastric tissue

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy can be considered to be a fast and non-invasive tool for distinguishing between normal and cancerous cells and tissues without the need for laborious and invasive sampling procedures. Gastric samples from four patients (age, 65±2 years) were analysed. Samples were obtained from the organs removed during gastrectomy and then classified as normal or cancerous. Classification was based on histopathological examinations at our institution. Formalin-fixed sections of gastric tissue were analysed by FTIR- microspectroscopy. To characterize differences between sections of normal and cancerous tissue, specific regions of the spectra were analysed to study variations in the levels of metabolites. To distinguish between two conditions (normal and cancerous), changes in the relative intensity of bands in the range 600–4000 cm⁻¹ were analysed. A FTIR spectral map of the bands in the region 2800–3100 cm^–1 and 900–1800 cm^–1 were created to analyse pathological changes in tissues. The limited data available showed that normal gastric tissue had stronger absorption than cancerous tissue over a wide region in the four patients. There was a significant decrease in total biomolecular components for cancerous tissue compared with normal tissue.