Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of Blood Serum Infrared Spectroscopy in Lung Cancer Patients

Background: Robust diagnostic and prognostic tools to guide treatment in lung cancer patients are of great clinical urge and relevance. While infrared molecular fingerprinting of cell-free blood presents a new diagnostic tool in some diseases (“liquid biopsy”), its potential in lung cancer patients’ stratification and prediction of survival remained unexplored. The aim of this study is to investigate the accuracy in predicting tumor stage and survival in lung cancer patients. Methods: 317 patients with lung cancer admitted for surgical or oncological treatment and 184 control patients admitted at the Asklepios Lung Clinic Gauting between 2018 and 2023 were included in this case-control study. Patients’ blood serum collected before specific treatment was analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Mutational analysis, focusing on the most frequent driver mutations in the included NSCLC subtypes, was conducted for UICC stages II–IV and is currently in progress. ROC analysis was applied to evaluate the prognostic potential of the FTIR in predicting lung cancer stage. Follow up was assessed by Machine learning and Kaplan Meier survival analysis. Results: A strong correlation between infrared fingerprinting and tumor stage (UICC stage I AUC 0.62±0.22; stage II AUC 0.74±0.21; stage III AUC 0.85±0.08; stage IV AUC 0.91±0.04, p