optical spectroscopy of colon tissue and a breast cancer cell line : potential for cancer detection
abstract
two forms of cancer affecting a large number of individuals are breast cancer
and colon cancer. in 2003, it was projected that approximately 21000 canadians would
be diagnosed with breast cancer and another 18000 would be diagnosed with colorectal
cancer (canadian cancer society 2003a, canadian cancer society 2003b). optical
spectroscopy techniques for discerning biochemical and morphological properties have
been investigated for potential in detecting these two types of cancer. techniques based
on absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy were developed and preliminary data were
obtained using cancerous and normal colon tissue, and using living actin and h1 gfp
tagged mcf-7 breast cancer cells. analysis of absorption spectra for normal and
cancerous colon tissue samples revealed a shift between the two, which may suggest a
potential method to distinguish between the two tissue types. fluorescence spectroscopy
and imaging were also performed on the colon tissue samples. analysis of the
spectroscopic data revealed potential methods for differentiating between tissues.
fluorescence measurements were performed with living actin and hi gfp tagged
mcf-7 breast cancer cells to investigate the value of imaging and spectroscopy under
identical conditions. various stages of mitosis and cellular movement were observed.
as an extrapolation of this study some cells were irradiated with 5 gy of cobalt-60
gamma rays, but no differences between irradiated and non-irradiated samples were
noted. these preliminary results reveal a potential application for optical diagnostic
techniques, although further investigations are required.
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- retrospective theses [1604]