Side-by-Side OCE-Study of Elasticity and SHG-Characterization of Collagen Fibers in Breast Cancer Tissue before and after Chemotherapy

In the recent years promising results have been shown by use of Compression optical coherence elastography (C-OCE) as a new biopsy approach to morphological assessment/diagnostics human breast cancer using differences in elastic properties components cancerous tissues. this study, for first time, relationship was established between microstructural organization and biomechanical breast-cancer tissue with pathomorphological changes caused chemotherapy. To characterize texture collagen fibers microenvironment cancer, high-resolution visualization Second-harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy used. A side-by-side C-OCE SHG imaging patients’ tissues before after chemotherapy carried out. Regions stroma (collagen outside aggregates cells) were assessed separately from regions cell clusters penetrated fibers. For areas chemotherapy, statistically significant decrease stiffness values found. Simultaneously, parameters images (mean intensity, “coherency” “energy”) indicated increase content, orientational orderliness, collagen-texture heterogeneity. contrast, cancer-cell post showed stiffness. Analysis these inter-cellular content heterogeneity its texture, whereas orderliness somewhat increased. The negative correlation indicates contribution total reduction regions, significantly lower (especially coherency) found, indicating stronger role chemotherapy-induced cells themselves. These give deeper insight biomechanics contribute more detailed substantiation characterization imaging.