Early diagnosis of oral cancers, one of the major cancers, is of utmost importance as 5-year disease-free survival rates are some of the lowest, despite advances in treatment and surgical modalities. In vivo Raman spectroscopy has shown efficacy in the detection of normal, premalignant and malignant lesions and even of early changes such as cancer-field-effects/malignancy-associated-changes. However, the need for a dedicated instrument and stringent laboratory conditions, at all diagnostic centers, limits wide screening applications of this method. In light of this, it is pertinent to explore ex vivo samples like serum due to its ease of collection, storage, transport and analysis at a centralized facility. Hence, Raman studies were carried out on serum from 14 buccal mucosa and 40 tongue cancers as well as 16 healthy control samples. Spectral features indicate differential contributions of proteins, DNA, and amino acids like Phe, Trp and Tyr and [small beta]-carotene in the analyzed groups. Highly int