Breast cancer diagnosis using extended-wavelength diffuse reflectance spectroscopy: comparing tumor subgroups

Optical imaging utilize light to analyze biological tissues in detail, non-invasively and without harmful radiation. Examples include ultrasound optical tomography and photoacoustic imaging; both use a limited number of wavelengths. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, another optical technique, covers a continuous wavelength range, but without generating an image. This study focuses on extended-wavelength DRS (450 to 1550nm) to compare healthy breast tissue with different subgroups of breast cancer. Analysis of 13 breast specimens with invasive ductal or lobular carcinoma reveals distinct optical profiles in tumor subgroups compared to healthy tissue. However, absorption and scattering patterns are similar among the tumor subgroups.