Application of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in liquid biopsy to predict the response to the first-line immunotherapy in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.
Journal:
Biochemical and biophysical research communications
Published Date:
Jul 22, 2025
Abstract
The direction of anticancer therapies has changed in recent years, including the increasing use of immunotherapy. However, around 50 % of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients do not respond to immunotherapy. Therefore, it is important to find a marker that will allow us to assess whether it will be effective. In the presented work, Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) spectroscopy was used for the first time to predict the response rate of NSCLC. Plasma before treatment and after the initial assessment of response were measured by FTIR and analyzed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) and decision tree algorithm to find wavenumbers, which could be used for differentiation of long-lasting (L) and short-lasting responding (S) patients received immunotherapy or chemoimmunotherapy. The results obtained showed that the FTIR range from 800 cm to 1800 cm distinguished between L and S patients before treatment and after the first response evaluation. Area Under Curve ROC (AUC-ROC) confirmed a high probability of this differentiation. With the usage of a band around 1750 cm, it was possible to differentiate L and S patients before and after the first response evaluation. It was also noticed that an additional band at 1539 cm played an important role in distinguishing L and S patients, while after the first response evaluation, the second band was placed at 1080 cm. Significantly, all of these bands correlated with biochemical data. Consequently, the results demonstrated that liquid biopsy-based FTIR spectroscopy can predict the response of NSCLC patients to immunotherapy or chemoimmunotherapy.
