Non-Invasive Optical Characterization of Breast Physiology
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: As more women undergo regular mammographic screening, new problems have emerged for physicians trying to distinguish between breast cancer and non-cancerous (benign) breast abnormalities. Because breast is a complex, dynamic tissue, benign changes are much more prevalent than cancer. As a result, a large number of surgical procedures are now performed to examine suspicious breast tissue for the presence of disease. This can add considerable cost and anxiety to each attempted breast cancer diagnosis. If new information could be provided by a rapid, low-cost, non-invasive technique, some of the difficulties associated with mammography, particularly for pre- and peri-menopausal women, could be minimized. This idea has lead to the development of "breast diaphanography", a simple, low-cost, near-infrared (NIR) light imaging method. Unfortunately, the initial promise of NIR diaphanography has not been realized, primarily due to the effect of intense light scattering by structures in the breast. Scattering blurs our ability to find small, light-absorbing tumors much in the same way that a cloud obscures our view of an airplane passing overhead. But, research by our group and many others in the biomedical optics community has lead to new strategies for understanding light scattering, rejuvenating interest in NIR optical methods for breast cancer detection.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 We plan to use BCRP funding to explore recent developments in a new NIR optical technique, "Frequency Domain Photon Migration" (FDPM), for breast tumor diagnosis. FDPM is unique because it is sensitive to subtle breast tissue physiological changes that occur throughout life, such as aging, hormonal fluctuations, and menopause. This information could be used to provide clinicians with immediate insight into the nature and severity of a problem and the efficacy of various treatment options. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Our aims are first to demonstrate whether normal and malignant breast tissues can be distinguished optically by FDPM using human patients. A specially designed, portable, hand-held probe will be used as a bedside device. Unlike mammography, FDPM does not employ ionizing radiation or breast compression. Tissue functional properties that are measured include hemoglobin concentration (both oxy- and deoxy- forms), blood volume fraction, water content, fat content, and details of cellular structure. We know that these physiological parameters can change significantly in tumors. In the proposed work we plan to investigate whether we can use these data in a clinical setting to characterize tumor progression, therapeutic response, and the efficacy of chemoprevention strategies.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 In summary, advances in optical technologies and computational power have helped stimulate new, non-invasive, bedside approaches for breast cancer management. Potential impact areas include detection in younger women, treatment monitoring, and screening high-risk subjects. We anticipate this research will have important near-term benefits for patients undergoing cancer therapies. Expected long-term benefits include enhancing our understanding of normal breast physiology, identifying specific changes associated with tumor formation and characterizing functional alterations that can be used to predict disease risk.