Lipidome analysis of oropharyngeal tumor tissues using Nanosecond Infrared Laser (NIRL) tissue sampling and subsequent mass spectrometry

Introduction The knowledge on the role of lipids in cancer is well established and perturbations of lipid metabolism in malignant disease are increasingly becoming a research focus as mass spectrometry enables for high-throughput and high-resolution analysis of the tissues lipidom. This study demonstrates the feasibility of tissue ablation with a nanosecond infrared laser (NIRL) for the subsequent lipidomic analysis of oropharyngeal tissues and its potential to discriminate oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) from healthy oropharyngeal tissue.