Confocal microscopy - Potentials, IEEE

0278-6648/04/$20.00 © 2004 IEEE IEEE POTENTIALS Optical technologies, such as reflectance and fluorescence microscopy, may help detect and diagnose cancers that originate in the epithelium. The epithelium is the layer of tissue that is exposed to the environment and lines the body’s cavities. Cancers that originate in the epithelium include cervical, oral, colon, lung, stomach, bladder and skin cancers. Since epithelial tissue protects the body from the environment, it has a high turnover of cells and, consequently, a greater chance of cell mutation. The basement membrane separates epithelial tissue from the next layer of tissue within the organ. The goal is to detect and remove lesions of cancerous cells within the epithelium before they penetrate through the basement membrane. This action prevents the precancer from establishing tumors in the neighboring tissue and metastasizing to other organs. In other words, removing precancerous lesions prevents the formation and progression of invasive cancer. The Optical Spectroscopy Lab at the University of Texas at Austin is developing and applying fluorescent, confocal and polarized reflectance microscopes as well as contrast agents to enhance reflectance and fluorescence for detecting and diagnosing epithelial precancers. The goal is to perform diagnosis in vivo, i.e. in the body. The lab currently has an in vivo, fiber optic reflectance confocal microscope (FOCM) in clinical trials at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.