Adapting the MasSpec Pen for noninvasive detection of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma
6 affiliations
- 1Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030
- 2Department of Otolaryngology, University of Campinas, Campinas 13085-566, Brazil
- 3School of Engineering, Mackgraphe Department, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, São Paulo 01302-907, Brazil
- 4Department of Pathology and Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030
- 5Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030
- 6Departments of Biomedical Data Sciences and Statistics, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94304
Abstract
Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OCSCC) is a common and deadly form of head and neck cancer which disproportionately afflicts low- and middle-income communities. Since the majority of OCSCC lesions are visible within the oral cavity, visual exam-guided biopsy remains the standard method for detection. However, visual examination can be subjective, biopsy can be painful, and pathological evaluation can be time consuming. With the goal of developing an accessible and noninvasive platform for OCSCC detection, we adapted the MSPen technology as a modular system for direct molecular analysis of OCSCC in vivo. The modular MSPen (Mod-MSPen) system consists of a controller unit and a disposable handheld device that directly contacts tissues, performs gentle liquid extraction of molecules, and collects the sample in a vial for subsequent mass spectrometric analysis. We have used the Mod-MSPen to analyze OCSCC and normal oral tissues spanning various anatomical areas: tongue, buccal mucosa, gingiva, and floor of mouth. The molecular data obtained presented distinct trends in the abundances of metabolites such as glutamate, which was consistently observed in higher relative abundances in OCSCC tissues when compared to normal oral tissues. These trends were corroborated using mass spectrometry imaging, which revealed clear spatio-molecular differences in OCSCC and adjacent normal oral mucosa tissues. Statistical classifiers built from the data provided high performance for disease detection, with >95% agreement with standard histopathology. To evaluate clinical suitability, we also deployed the Mod-MSPen for in vivo analysis of OCSCC and normal oral tissues alongside clinical procedures.
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BibTeX
@article{wolfe2026adapting,
title = {{Adapting the MasSpec Pen for noninvasive detection of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma}},
author = {Charles A. Wolfe and Tassia V. Mendes and Faith Jackobs and Sarah Bench and Emily X. Ma and Brian J. Armijo and Ashley E. Montgomery and Renan V. de Brito and Carlos T. Chone and Marcos N. Eberlin and Caroline P. Carvalho and Junaid Ibrahim and Andrew T. Huang and Nelson E. Liou and Erich M. Sturgis and Robert Tibshirani and Livia S. Eberlin},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1073/pnas.2603602123},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2603602123},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Adapting the MasSpec Pen for noninvasive detection of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma
AU - Charles A. Wolfe
AU - Tassia V. Mendes
AU - Faith Jackobs
AU - Sarah Bench
AU - Emily X. Ma
AU - Brian J. Armijo
AU - Ashley E. Montgomery
AU - Renan V. de Brito
AU - Carlos T. Chone
AU - Marcos N. Eberlin
AU - Caroline P. Carvalho
AU - Junaid Ibrahim
AU - Andrew T. Huang
AU - Nelson E. Liou
AU - Erich M. Sturgis
AU - Robert Tibshirani
AU - Livia S. Eberlin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/03
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2603602123
UR - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2603602123
AB - Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OCSCC) is a common and deadly form of head and neck cancer which disproportionately afflicts low- and middle-income communities. Since the majority of OCSCC lesions are visible within the oral cavity, visual exam-guided biopsy remains the standard method for detection. However, visual examination can be subjective, biopsy can be painful, and pathological evaluation can be time consuming. With the goal of developing an accessible and noninvasive platform for OCSCC detection, we adapted the MSPen technology as a modular system for direct molecular analysis of OCSCC in vivo. The modular MSPen (Mod-MSPen) system consists of a controller unit and a disposable handheld device that directly contacts tissues, performs gentle liquid extraction of molecules, and collects the sample in a vial for subsequent mass spectrometric analysis. We have used the Mod-MSPen to analyze OCSCC and normal oral tissues spanning various anatomical areas: tongue, buccal mucosa, gingiva, and floor of mouth. The molecular data obtained presented distinct trends in the abundances of metabolites such as glutamate, which was consistently observed in higher relative abundances in OCSCC tissues when compared to normal oral tissues. These trends were corroborated using mass spectrometry imaging, which revealed clear spatio-molecular differences in OCSCC and adjacent normal oral mucosa tissues. Statistical classifiers built from the data provided high performance for disease detection, with >95% agreement with standard histopathology. To evaluate clinical suitability, we also deployed the Mod-MSPen for in vivo analysis of OCSCC and normal oral tissues alongside clinical procedures.
SN - 0027-8424
SN - 1091-6490
ER -