In vivo fluorescence spectroscopic monitoring of radiotherapy in cancer treatment

Purpose: The primary purpose of this study is to introduce fluorescence spectroscopy technology as a tool for optical biopsy and to evaluate the reliability of this real-time non-invasive technique in assessing tumor therapeutic response in radiotherapy. Methods: Four oral cancer patients with inflammatory conditions of the oral cavity volunteered to participate in the study. Using FastEEM (Excited Emission Matrix), spectra were taken from both normal and tumor regions. Then the second optical diagnostic was taken from the tumor regions in 4 patients with time delay of 4 weeks. The fluorescence spectroscopy optical biopsy turned out to be more suitable for tumor diagnostics as there was a significant difference in fluorescence spectra. Results: The first fluorescence intensity of cancerous tissue was higher compared to the second fluorescence intensity of optical biopsy of cancerous oral tissue. From this result, it can be concluded that the fluorescence spectroscopy optical biopsy, which is a technique that does not require removal of tissue sample from body, is a reliable tool to be used in radiotherapy. Conclusion: FastEEM, which is a tool for fluorescence spectroscopy, enables a real-time non-invasive assessment of the chemical, biological, as well as morphological variations in the tissue composition following radiotherapy.