The new imaging tool reveals strikingly different networks of blood vessels surrounding different types of tumors in a mouse model. Left: Breast cancer in the breast. Middle: Metastatic breast cancer in the brain. Right: Ectopic breast cancer in the skin. Credit: Nature Medicine
Next month at Frontiers in Optics, The Optical Society’s (OSA) Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School will be showing how the harnessing of a couple imaging techniques can offer a fantastic new view inside the structure and workings of tumors.
A tumor before (left) and five days after (right) anti-angiogenic treatment – novel treatment approach by inhibiting blood vessel growth. Credit: Nature Medicine
One technique, called multiphoton laser-scanning microscopy (MPLSM), a fluorescence imaging modality, is now actually available for laboratories to purchase. The other technique is called optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI), which has been experimented with in labs but not yet commercially available, reconstructs the imaged object from the scattered light it gives off.
From the Optical Society:
“MPLSM overcomes many of the limitations from which conventional microscopy and confocal microscopy suffer, and OFDI provides robust large volume imaging data,” Dai Fukumura, MD, PhD., Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology Harvard Medical School, said.
He added that while the new combined approach would be too expensive to be used for routine diagnostic purposes, it promises to help researchers better understand the intricate workings of human cancer and aid in drug discovery to treat cancer. “These optical imaging approaches can provide unprecedented insights in the biology and mechanisms of cancer,” he said.
Announcement: Uncovering cancer’s inner workings by capturing live images of growing tumors
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