Infrared laser sampling of low volumes combined with shotgun lipidomics reveals lipid markers in palatine tonsil carcinoma

Complete surgical resection is essential for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) therapy, underscoring the need for improved intraoperative margin assessment. To advance in vivo diagnostics for OPSCC, Nanosecond infrared laser (NIRL) tissue sampling combined with shotgun lipidomic analysis reveals lipidome differences between OPSCC tissue and adjacent healthy tissue. In this study, ablations were performed on tonsil squamous cell carcinoma in 28 samples from 11 patients using an established chamber setup, and a subset of six samples from three patients with a custom-made laser fiber-coupled applicator, designed for handheld use. Welch's t-test results (p = 0.05, two-fold change) revealed a similar OPSCC lipid profile in seven out of 11 patients. Potential tumor lipid markers were identified as consistently and significantly increased, despite the biological heterogeneity of the samples, underscoring their potential diagnostic value. Tissue ablation with fiber-coupled applicator was successful and the lipidomic analysis was consistent with the chamber setup. While limited to off-line analysis, our approach highlights the potential of fiber-based laser sampling as a rapid and minimally invasive method to obtain tissue material for advanced molecular profiling in surgical and endoscopic settings.