Raman Endoscopic Proteo-lipidomics of Bladder Cancer

The goal of ENDOMICS is to drive forward a new paradigm of Raman endoscopic technology that enables proteomic and lipidomic analysis for diagnosis of bladder cancers in vivo. Raman endoscopy is a label-free optical technique that can provide a point-wise vibrational molecular fingerprint of tissue “optical biopsy” for cancer diagnosis in vivo. State-of-the-art Raman endoscopy, however, does not offer specific compositional analysis or insights into molecular biology of tissue. This is because the vibrational Raman bands are overlapping and cannot be deciphered into the myriad of biomolecules in complex tissue. We will introduce a ground-breaking new methodology to enable Raman proteomic and lipidomic analysis in vivo. To this end, heterospectral co-registered Raman and mass spectrometry imaging will be used to develop a multivariate regression model “Rosetta Stone” for translating vibrational structural information (Raman spectroscopy) into compositional information. To meet the unmet clinical needs in urology we will tailor the first fibre-optic Raman endoscopic technology that can measure depth-dependent molecular profiles to simultaneously enable detection, grading and staging of bladder cancers. We will finally conduct a clinical trial by applying the technique to measure a comprehensive molecular database of bladder pathologies in vivo. The latter will allow for the identification of proteomic and lipidomic biomarkers to develop novel algorithms for real-time diagnosis of bladder cancers. The synergy between scientific and technological advances in ENDOMICS will break ground for shedding new light on the molecular biology of bladder cancer in vivo including new insights into clinical diversity and identification of biomarkers for diagnostics, prognostics and novel therapeutic targets.