A rise in head and neck cancers in low and middle countries over recent years has prompted the need for low-cost, resource-efficient diagnostic technologies. Standard diagnosis with histopathology is often not feasible due to the low number of trained pathologists in these regions, resulting in delayed diagnosis and treatment. This study presents an alternative diagnostic method to standard histopathology. We developed a surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) based method to distinguish squamous cell carcinoma from other cell lines. Using a “sandwich” method employing ultrabright SERS nanorattles and magnetic beads, we directly targeted specific nucleic acid markers of squamous cells. Our method was able to detect the presence of squamous cells with high sensitivity and specificity, supporting its potential for use as a diagnostic tool in head and neck fine needle aspirations (FNA).

中文翻译：

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使用超亮SERS纳米管和磁珠检测鳞状细胞癌DNA，用于头颈癌分子诊断

近年来，中低端国家头颈癌的上升促使人们需要低成本，资源高效的诊断技术。由于在这些地区受过训练的病理学家人数较少，因此采用组织病理学进行标准诊断通常是不可行的，从而导致了诊断和治疗的延迟。这项研究提出了替代标准组织病理学的诊断方法。我们开发了一种基于表面增强拉曼散射（SERS）的方法来区分鳞状细胞癌与其他细胞系。使用“三明治”方法，使用超亮SERS纳米ra和磁珠，我们直接靶向了鳞状细胞的特定核酸标记。我们的方法能够以高灵敏度和特异性检测鳞状细胞的存在，