Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
201,818 studies31 sourcesUpdated 37 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDJournal of dental sciences

Developing an automated cytology-based DNA ploidy test for detecting oral squamous cell carcinoma in Taiwan: A feasibility study.

  • Pei Hsuan Lu1,2,3
  • Kelly Yi Ping Liu4,5,6
  • Julia Yu Fong Chang2,3,7
  • Long-Wei Lin8
  • Hao-Hung Chang2
  • Chen-Han Chang9
  • Shang Hsuan Peng9
  • Catherine F Poh4,5
9 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital Yunlin Branch, Yunlin, Taiwan.
  2. 2Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
  3. 3Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
  4. 4Department of Oral Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
  5. 5Basic and Translational Research, BC Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
  6. 6School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
  7. 7Graduate Institute of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
  8. 8Department of Pathology, National Taiwan University Hospital Yunlin Branch, Yunlin, Taiwan.
  9. 9Department of Oncology, National Taiwan University Hospital Yunlin Branch, Yunlin, Taiwan.
Read full textPDFDOICite

Abstract

Background/purpose

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains a global health issue, particularly in underserved settings such Taiwan where access to early diagnosis is limited. DNA ploidy-based oral cytology has shown strong diagnostic performance, but its applicability across populations require evaluation.Materials and methods

In this prospective feasibility study, brush and oral rinse samples were collected from patients with OSCC, low-grade dysplasia, reactive lesions, and normal mucosa. DNA cytometry was performed to quantify ploidy profiles. Diagnostic performance was evaluated using published algorithm and cohort-specific thresholds derived from stratified 10-fold cross-validation.Results

A total of 118 patients were included (50 OSCC, 41 normal, 22 reactive lesions, and 5 low-grade dysplasia). Applying the published algorithm to brushing samples yielded high sensitivity (0.97), but much poor specificity (0.27), highlighting cohort-specific limitations. New thresholds were therefore derived using 10-fold cross-validation based on the percentage of abnormal cells. Among 82 adequate brush samples, a threshold of 3.7% abnormal cells achieved 0.75 sensitivity 0.75 and 0.86 specificity. For 95 adequate rinse samples, a 1.4% threshold yielded 0.77 sensitivity and 0.80 specificity. Thresholds based on non-diploid cells performed worse. Covariate-adjusted logistic regression further improved sensitivity to 0.94 (brush) and 0.87 (rinse). In 105 paired samples, rinse testing demonstrated fewer inadequate samples (12.5% vs. 22.5%) and higher cell yield.Conclusion

This is the first study assessing automated DNA cytology in an areca nut-prevalent population. Findings emphasize the need for population-specific calibration and support rinse-based cytology as a scalable self-administered screening approach. Large multicenter validation is warranted.

Related

  1. CERVEX: A Foundation-Model Framework With Built-In Explainable AI for Automated Cervical Cytology Classification From Pap Smear Images
    N. Sriratana, P. Pongsiripreeda, P. Uasawaengboon +2
    medRxivPreprintAll rights reservedFull textGeneral medicinemedRxiv
  2. Diagnostic Challenge in Cytology: Fibrosing Thyroiditis Mimicking Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma.
    G Anju, Meenakshi Rao, Nivedita Sharma
    Journal of cytologyPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-SAFull textEndocrinology & metabolismEurope PMC
  3. Unexpected Pericardial Cytology in a Patient With Primary Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lung: Emphasizing the Need for Advanced Molecular Characterization of Tumors
    Melinda Gevorgian, Alex Minter
    CureusPeer-reviewedCC BYFull textGeneral medicineEurope PMC
  4. Automated acquisition of thyroid cytology image features using self-supervised learning and application to image classification
    Masatoshi Abe, Ayana Suzuki, Kumiko Kamada +8
    Communications MedicinePeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textGeneral medicineCrossref
  5. Feasibility of Distributed Wearable Ultrasound for Detecting Neuromuscular Coordination Differences After Knee Injury
    E. L. King, M. A. Lamarre, A. Bashatah +8
    medRxivPreprintAll rights reservedFull textSurgery & anaesthesiamedRxiv

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{lu2026developing,
  title = {{Developing an automated cytology-based DNA ploidy test for detecting oral squamous cell carcinoma in Taiwan: A feasibility study.}},
  author = {Pei Hsuan Lu and Kelly Yi Ping Liu and Julia Yu Fong Chang and Long-Wei Lin and Hao-Hung Chang and Chen-Han Chang and Shang Hsuan Peng and Catherine F Poh},
  journal = {Journal of dental sciences},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.jds.2025.07.3578},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42924204},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Developing an automated cytology-based DNA ploidy test for detecting oral squamous cell carcinoma in Taiwan: A feasibility study.
AU  - Pei Hsuan Lu
AU  - Kelly Yi Ping Liu
AU  - Julia Yu Fong Chang
AU  - Long-Wei Lin
AU  - Hao-Hung Chang
AU  - Chen-Han Chang
AU  - Shang Hsuan Peng
AU  - Catherine F Poh
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/01
JO  - Journal of dental sciences
DO  - 10.1016/j.jds.2025.07.3578
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42924204
AB  - Background/purpose  Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains a global health issue, particularly in underserved settings such Taiwan where access to early diagnosis is limited. DNA ploidy-based oral cytology has shown strong diagnostic performance, but its applicability across populations require evaluation.Materials and methods  In this prospective feasibility study, brush and oral rinse samples were collected from patients with OSCC, low-grade dysplasia, reactive lesions, and normal mucosa. DNA cytometry was performed to quantify ploidy profiles. Diagnostic performance was evaluated using published algorithm and cohort-specific thresholds derived from stratified 10-fold cross-validation.Results  A total of 118 patients were included (50 OSCC, 41 normal, 22 reactive lesions, and 5 low-grade dysplasia). Applying the published algorithm to brushing samples yielded high sensitivity (0.97), but much poor specificity (0.27), highlighting cohort-specific limitations. New thresholds were therefore derived using 10-fold cross-validation based on the percentage of abnormal cells. Among 82 adequate brush samples, a threshold of 3.7% abnormal cells achieved 0.75 sensitivity 0.75 and 0.86 specificity. For 95 adequate rinse samples, a 1.4% threshold yielded 0.77 sensitivity and 0.80 specificity. Thresholds based on non-diploid cells performed worse. Covariate-adjusted logistic regression further improved sensitivity to 0.94 (brush) and 0.87 (rinse). In 105 paired samples, rinse testing demonstrated fewer inadequate samples (12.5% vs. 22.5%) and higher cell yield.Conclusion  This is the first study assessing automated DNA cytology in an areca nut-prevalent population. Findings emphasize the need for population-specific calibration and support rinse-based cytology as a scalable self-administered screening approach. Large multicenter validation is warranted.
SN  - 1991-7902
SN  - 2213-8862
ER  -