Stimulated Raman histology for histological evaluation of oral squamous cell carcinoma

To investigate whether in patients undergoing surgery for oral squamous cell carcinoma, stimulated Raman histology (SRH), in comparison with H&E-stained frozen sections, can provide accurate diagnoses regarding neoplastic tissue and sub-classification of non-neoplastic tissues.

SRH, a technology based on Raman scattering, was applied to generate digital histopathologic images of 80 tissue samples obtained from 8 oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients. Conventional H&E-stained frozen sections were then obtained from all 80 samples. All images/sections (SRH and H&E) were analyzed for squamous cell carcinoma, normal mucosa, connective tissue, muscle tissue, adipose tissue, salivary gland tissue, lymphatic tissue, and inflammatory cells. Agreement between SRH and H&E was evaluated by calculating Cohen’s kappa. Accuracy of SRH compared to H&E was quantified by calculating sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) as well as area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).

Thirty-six of 80 samples were classified as OSCC by H&E-based diagnosis. Regarding the differentiation between neoplastic and non-neoplastic tissue, high agreement between H&E and SRH (kappa: 0.880) and high accuracy of SRH (sensitivity: 100%; specificity: 90.91%; PPV: 90.00%, NPV: 100%; AUC: 0.954) were demonstrated. For sub-classification of non-neoplastic tissues, SRH performance was dependent on the type of tissue, with high agreement and accuracy for normal mucosa, muscle tissue, and salivary glands.

SRH provides high accuracy in discriminating neoplastic and non-neoplastic tissues. Regarding sub-classification of non-neoplastic tissues in OSCC patients, accuracy varies depending on the type of tissue examined.

This study demonstrates the potential of SRH for intraoperative imaging of fresh, unprocessed tissue specimens from OSCC patients without the need for sectioning or staining.