Application of FT-IR microspectroscopy in diagnosing thyroid neoplasms

Tissue biopsies and fine-needle aspirates (FNA) of patients with suspected benign or malignant thyroid neoplasms were investigated by infrared microsp ectroscopy and multivariate statistical methods. Unsupervised cluster analy sis revealed four different spectral patterns for the aspirates analyzed, c orresponding to colloid goiter, adenoma, carcinomas and negative diagnoses. Infrared microspectroscopic measurements of neoplastic cells on infrared t ransparent slides provide a potentially new tool for diagnostic screening o f these FNA. Biopsy material obtained during surgical removal of gland tiss ue, was successfully used to generate statistically significant criteria fo r the distinction of neoplastic from normal tissue. Bivariate histogram plo ts demonstrate that two selected parameters, DNA and protein, are sufficien t to separate control tissue from adenoma and carcinomas (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.