Laser-light testing of breast tumor fiber patterns helps show whose cancer is spreading

Using advanced microscopes equipped with tissue-penetrating laser light, cancer imaging experts at Johns Hopkins have developed a promising, new way to accurately analyze the distinctive patterns of ultra-thin collagen fibers in breast tumor tissue samples and to help tell if the cancer has spread. The Johns Hopkins researchers say their crisscrossing optical images, made by shining a laser back and forth across a biopsied tissue sample a few millionths of a meter thick, can potentially be used with other tests to more accurately determine the need for lymph node biopsy and removal in women at risk of metastatic breast cancer. Read more here.

Study mentioned: Kakkad SM, et al. Collagen I fiber density increases in lymph node positive breast cancers: pilot study. J Biomed Opt. 2012 Nov 1;17(11):116017. PMID: 23117811