Patent ID: 7653429

Claim:
A method for determining the efficacy of treatment of cancer in the upper and lower intestinal tract in an animal comprising the steps of: a. administering to the animal having cancer of the upper or lower intestinal tract an amount of an exogenous fluorescent-labeled probe that is selectively internalized or bound by the cancer cells; b. illuminating cells in the an intestinal wall of said animal from a light source mounted to a first autonomous solid support introduced into the lumen of the intestine with a wavelength that excites a particular fluorescent signal emitted by the fluorescent label on the exogenous probe in the cancer cells; c. detecting at a detector mounted to the first autonomous solid support the fluorescent signal emitted by the exogenous probe in cancer cells illuminated during step b to determine a first amount of fluorescent emission; d. after step c, administering treatment to the animal having cancer of the upper or lower intestinal tract to eliminate the cancer cells; e. after step d, administering to the animal an amount of the exogenous fluorescent-labeled probe; f. after step e, illuminating cells in the intestinal wall from a light source mounted to a second autonomous solid support introduced into the lumen of the intestine with the wavelength that excites the particular fluorescent signal; g. detecting at a detector mounted to the second solid support the fluorescent signal emitted by the exogenous probe in cancer cells illuminated during step f to determine a second amount of fluorescent emission; and h. determining an efficacy of the treatment based on a difference between the first and second amounts of fluorescent emission.