Background: Liver cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality in China. Early diagnosis and treatment play a significant role in reducing liver cancer mortality. Aims: In this preliminary study, the feasibility of using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) of serum to identify primary liver cancer was explored. Materials and methods: Serum samples were obtained from liver cancer patients (n = 25) and healthy controls (n = 30). Nano-silver (Ag) colloids (45 ± 6 nm) were used as the SERS substrate and mixed with serum samples (10 μL). Raman spectra were obtained from a confocal Raman micro-spectrometer (Renishaw) and spectral characteristics analyzed. Results: Analyses of spectral characteristics showed noticeable differences in peak heights between the mean spectra of the control and patients, mainly reflected in following peak positions: increased at 496, 593, 637, 726, 813, 888, and 1137 cm-1, and decreased at 1580 cm-1, respectively. Which might be attributable to glycogen, phosphatidylinositol, aminoacid methionine, C-S (protein), C-C stretching, methylene rocking, palmitic acid and C-C stretching, respectively. Conclusion: These preliminary analyses suggest that SERS might be useful for the identification of serum markers of liver cancer.
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