title: Diagnosis of neuroblastoma and ganglioneuroma using Raman spectroscopy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Raman spectroscopy has proven to be useful in studying premalignant and malignant lesions in adults. This is the first report to evaluate Raman spectroscopy in the diagnosis and classification of neuroblastoma in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A biopsy or resection of fresh tissue samples from normal adrenal glands, neuroblastomas, ganglioneuromas, nerve sheath tumors, and pheochromocytoma at our hospital were equally divided between routine histology and spectroscopic studies. At least 12 spectra were collected from different regions of each sample using a Renishaw Raman microscope. Raw spectra were processed to remove noise, fluorescence, and shot noise, and then analyzed using principle component analysis and discriminant function analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We collected 698 spectra from 16 neuroblastomas, 5 ganglioneuromas, 3 normal adrenal glands, 6 nerve sheath tumors, and 1 pheochromocytoma. Raman spectroscopy differentiated between normal adrenal gland, and neuroblastoma and ganglioneuroma with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. It correlated well with the Shimada histologic classification system with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. It was also able to differentiate neuroblastoma from nerve sheath tumors and pheochromocytoma with high sensitivity and specificity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This technique can differentiate neuroblastoma from ganglioneuroma and other tumors. It has a potential as a noninvasive real-time diagnostic tool in classifying pediatric tumors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI 48201, USA. rrabah@dmc.org
authors.forename: Raja
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rabah
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: Gulay K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Serhatkulu
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Houbei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Abhilash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pandya
authors.forename: Ratna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Naik
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Auner
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Poulik
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klein
mesh_terms: D000310:Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005729:Ganglioneuroma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010673:Pheochromocytoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000379:methods*; D016610:Tissue Embedding