Head and Neck Cancer

Raman spectroscopy has shown promise in identifying malignant tissues in head and neck cancers, where preserving critical structures is essential. The literature has shown that high-wavenumber region Raman spectroscopy can discriminate laryngeal cancer from non-cancerous tissue structures [11].

Brain Tumors

In neurosurgery, Raman spectroscopy assists in the differentiation of brain tumor margins, crucial for avoiding damage to surrounding healthy brain tissue. The recent advance has been an innovative approach combining stimulated Raman histology (SRH) and deep convolutional neural networks (CNN), creating a new avenue for real-time cancer diagnosis during surgery [12].

Breast Cancer

The technique is used to evaluate tumor margins in breast cancer surgeries, aiming to reduce the need for reoperation. With laser Raman spectroscopy (LRS), which can distinguish healthy and tumor tissue, it has been reported that combining LRS with two machine learning algorithms, unsupervised k-means and stochastic nonlinear neural networks (NN), provides rapid, quantitative, probabilistic breast tumor assessment with real-time error analysis [13].

Gastric Cancer

Raman spectroscopy is a new method for label-free gastric cancer diagnosis that can identify the differences in chemical composition between different types of gastric cancer samples by analyzing the molecular composition and structural differences of substances in isolated tissue or body fluid samples. Raman spectroscopy distinguishes cancerous from normal samples at the molecular level, thus enabling the early diagnosis of gastric cancer, and may soon be a better diagnostic tool for early gastric cancer than upper gastrointestinal endoscopy [14].

Overall, Raman spectroscopy is becoming increasingly integrated into the surgical oncology toolkit, aiding in more accurate, personalized, and effective cancer treatment strategies. What was published as a “Letter to the Editor” in 1928 in the journal Nature entitled “A New Type of Secondary Radiation” by CV Raman and KS Krishnan from Kolkata, it marked a significant milestone in the birth of Raman spectroscopy [15], but it was not until the invention of the laser that Raman spectroscopy began to develop rapidly and spread its wings in Oncosurgery for screening, diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance. With the advent of artificial intelligence, Raman spectroscopy has probably occupied the most important diagnostic armamentarium for the management of cancer. Never once Sir CV Raman would have guessed the importance of his discovery then which will occupy one day the topmost pedestal in the history of cancer management (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2

CV Raman in the postage stamp of India

The concluding comment on the magic invention of spectroscopy by CV Raman was “The essence of science is independent thinking, hard work, and not equipment. When I got my Nobel Prize, I had spent hardly 200 rupees on my equipment.”