Early in their development, tumours stimulate new blood vessel growth through a range of mechanisms to meet their metabolic needs, leading to marked differences in the absorption spectra of normal and tumour tissue that could be exploited for early cancer detection. To extract quantitative biomarkers such as haemoglobin concentration and oxygenation from optical images, we combine novel spectral imaging methods with advanced computational analysis and biophysical modelling, applied in both preclinical cancer models and early phase clinical trials in patients. In this talk, I will focus on one aspect of these studies, applying multi- and hyper-spectral imaging during endoscopic surveillance of the gastrointestinal tract for detection of early oesophageal cancer.
|