Characterization of Pancreatic Cancer Tissue Using Multiphoton Excitation Fluorescence and Polarization-Sensitive Harmonic Generation Microscopy

Conclusions Human pancreas tissue samples were successfully imaged by polarization-resolved SHG, MPF, and THG microscopies. Using the several polarization SHG parameters (R, FWHM of C occurrence and DOLP), the normal tissue can be distinguished from tumor tissue. These parameters could be used together for automated cancer detection and as a research tool to understand how the extracellular matrix is formed and evolves with tumor initiation and progression. Further, variations between the collagen structure within normal tissue types were also observed, indicating that collagen structure and ultrastructure vary even within a single organ according to the tissue function. THG microscopy also revealed differences in the nuclear morphology. Combined SHG and THG imaging can be applied for automated cancer detection and can also be used to study the interaction of cancer cells with collagenous structures of the extracellular matrix. Ethics Statement This study was carried out in accordance with the recommendations of the Tri-Council Policy Statement and the University Health Network Research Ethics Board. Additional written consent for this study was not needed to be obtained because the tissues used in this study were collected from a biobank where consent had already been received. The protocol was approved by the University Health Network Research Ethics Board. Author Contributions DT, RC, SA, BW, and VB: project concept and design. DT, RC, and SA: tissue collection and cu...
Source: Frontiers in Oncology - Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: research