Swiss bare mice: a suitable model for transcutaneous in vivo Raman spectroscopic studies of breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting females worldwide. As early detection results in better prognosis, screening tools for breast cancer are being explored. Raman spectroscopy, a rapid, objective, and noninvasive tool, has shown promising results in the diagnosis of several cancers including breast cancer. For development as a screening tool, a study of spectral signatures associated with breast cancer progression is imperative. However, such studies are not possible in human subjects. Hence, there is a need for a suitable animal model, which is conducive to transcutaneous in vivo Raman spectroscopic measurements of breast with minimal interference from skin and hair and has contribution from functional mammary epithelium of breast. In this study, rodent models like C57, Swiss albino, Swiss bare, agouti mice, and Sprague-Dawley rats were evaluated. Among these models, transcutaneous breast spectra of hairless Swiss bare mice have the best signal-to-noise ratio and were closest to reported ex vivo as well as intraoperative in vivo human breast spectra. Principal component-linear discriminant analysis of several anatomical sites confirms minimal skin interference and suggests contribution from functional mammary epithelium of breast. Moreover, transcutaneous spectra from normal breast and breast tumors of Swiss bare mice could be classified with 99 % efficiency, which is better than the previous reports. Thus, Swiss bare mice model may be better suited for transcutaneous in vivo Raman spectroscopic studies of breast physiology and pathology, especially breast cancer. Prospectively, in addition to cancer progression, breast-to-bone metastasis can also be studied, since these anatomical sites can be uniquely classified.