Early detection of cancer onset based on sensing field cancerization at the organ level
Cancer is a major cause of death worldwide. Gastrointestinal (GI) tract tumors are among the most common and deadliest
ones. Despite progress in imaging and treatment, the social impact of these diseases is enormous. All parties in the health
sector agree that prevention and/or early diagnosis is the most effective means to deal with cancer. Currently, cancer is
identified most often when symptomatic or large enough to be visualized in body scans or when histological alterations are
already present. What is lacking is an imaging method that could detect tissue changes that facilitate or predict tumor
development at an early stage. These alterations, collectively referred to as “field cancerization” is an exciting field of study
in cancer biology with profound ramifications in clinical practice. Molecular mechanisms underlying field cancerization are
being studied and the advances in molecular biology facilitate these studies. Never in the past however, have these changes
been sensed/measured by an imaging modality at the organ level. We thus propose the development of a multimodal
microscopy platform that will allow sensing of Raman and scattering properties at the organ level, in order to identify
molecular and structural fingerprints of early stage disease in the GI tract. Successful implementation will allow the
development of an endoscope especially designed for this purpose that will be used to detect early stage cancer in humans.