INFRARED PARAMETERS IN THE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE NEOPLASTIC CELL-TRANSFORMATION

In this paper we report the results on the characterization of neoplastic cells by means of FT-IR spectroscopy. Spectral differences have been found in examining normal and leukemic lymphocytes. Through analyzing also nuclei extracted from normal and leukemic lymphocytes an increase of DNA with respect to proteic components was observed in the order: normal lymphocytes, leukemic lymphocytes, normal nuclei, and leukemic nuclei. Spectral differences were observed between lipids extracted from normal and leukemic cells. Recently the infrared spectra of single normal and leukemic cells have been obtained. The later opens new possibilities for revealing the early phase of the disease, in following the trends of leukemia in patients who are under treatment with drugs, and in evaluating the residual neoplastic disease. This research has extended to the study of human tumor lung cells. Spectral differences were also observed analyzing normal and neoplastic cells. Spectroscopic parameters distinguishing normal from tumoral cells have been suggested. © 1992.