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Liu et al. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2019;5:4 Journal of Cancer
DOI: 10.20517/2394-4722.2018.55 Metastasis and Treatment

Original Article Open Access

A pilot study for distinguishing basal cell carcinoma
from normal human skin tissues using visible

resonance Raman spectroscopy

Cheng-hui Liu , Binlin Wu , Laura A. Sordillo , Susie Boydston-White , Vidyasagar Sriramoju , Chunyuan
2
1,3
4
1
1
Zhang , Hugh Beckman , Lin Zhang , Zhe Pei , Lingyan Shi , Robert R. Alfano 1,3
1
1
1,6
5
1
1 Institute for Ultrafast Spectroscopy and Lasers, The City College of the City University of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA.
2 Physics Department and CSCU Center for Nanotechnology, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT 06515, USA.
3 Department of Electrical Engineering, The Grove School of Engineering, The City College of the City University of New York,
New York, NY 10031, USA.
4 Science Department, City University of New York, Borough of Manhattan Community College, New York, NY 10007-1097, USA.
5 17150 Bermuda Village Dr., Boca Raton, Florida 33487-1041, USA.
6 Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Correspondence to: Dr. Robert R. Alfano, Institute for Ultrafast Spectroscopy and Lasers, City College of the City University of
New York, 160 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031, USA. E-mail: ralfano@ccny.cuny.edu
How to cite this article: Liu CH, Wu B, Sordillo LA, Boydston-White S, Sriramoju V, Zhang C, Beckman H, Zhang L, Pei Z, Shi L,
Alfano RR. A pilot study for distinguishing basal cell carcinoma from normal human skin tissues using visible resonance Raman
spectroscopy. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2019;5:4. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-4722.2018.55
Received: 20 Aug 2018 First Decision: 22 Oct 2018 Revised: 16 Dec 2018 Accepted: 19 Dec 2018 Published: 23 Jan 2019
Science Editor: Bing-Liang Fang Copy Editor: Cai-Hong Wang Production Editor: Huan-Liang Wu

Abstract
Aim: The aim of the study is to test visible resonance Raman (VRR) spectroscopy for rapid skin cancer diagnosis,
and evaluate its effectiveness as a new optical biopsy method to distinguish basal cell carcinoma (BCC) from
normal skin tissues.

Methods: The VRR spectroscopic technique was undertaken using 532 nm excitation. Normal and BCC human
skin tissue samples were measured in seconds. The molecular fingerprints of various native biomolecules as
biomarkers were analyzed. A principal component analysis - support vector machine (PCA-SVM) statistical
analysis method based on the molecular fingerprints was developed for differentiating BCC from normal skin
tissues.

Results: VRR provides a rapid method and enhanced Raman signals from biomolecules with resonant and near-
resonant absorption bands as compared with using a near-infrared excitation light source. The VRR technique
revealed chemical composition changes of native biomarkers such as tryptophan, carotenoids, lipids and proteins.
The VRR spectra from BCC samples showed a strong enhancement in proteins including collagen type I combined

© The Author(s) 2019. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
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