A study on the differences between oral squamous cell carcinomas and normal oral mucosas measured by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

We investigated the differences of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectr a between oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and normal gingival epitheliu m (NGE) or normal subgingival tissue (NST). We used 15 specimens of OSCC wh ich had not been treated before measurement and 10 of NGE or NST. We also u sed cultured oral squamous cell carcinoma (COSCC) and the tissue (MSCC) whi ch massed for 3 months after the cultured oral squamous cell carcinoma was transplanted into the lower back of a rat. Those tissue spectra were compar ed with the purified human collagens and human keratin. One half of every t issue specimen was measured with FTIR and the other half was investigated h istologically. The differences of FTIR spectra between OSCC and NGE were ob served in the bands between 1431 and 1482 cm(-1) and between 1183 and 1274 cm(-1). The shoulder at 1368 cm(-1) tended to disappear in OSCC, and the pe aks at 1246 and 1083 cm(-1) found in NGE tended to shift to those at 1242 a nd 1086 cm(-1) in OSCC, respectively. The infrared spectrum of NST was noti ced to be strongly influenced by the presence of collagen. Significant diff erences were also observed in the second derivative FTIR spectra between OS CC and NGE. Our data suggested that this infrared technique is applicable t o clinical diagnostics. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.