Rapid identification of two types of tissue necrosis in breast tumor using multiphoton microscopy

Necrosis is a form of cell death caused by an external factor of the cell, such as hypoxia. It is usually associated with rapidly growing malignancies in the breast, colon, brain, lungs, kidney, and pancreas. Multiphoton microscopy (MPM) based on intrinsic nonlinear optical signals were used to monitor the morphological changes of biological tissues and identify tumor tissue necrosis in breast cancer patients, as well as surrounding tumor cells and collagen. In this study, we performed MPM imaging of the breast tissue and found that there were two types of necrosis in the breast tissue, namely intraluminal necrosis and interstitial necrosis. Different types of necrosis may have different effects on the prognosis. It means MPM may provide a new assistant tool for pathologists to quickly and effectively identify tumor necrosis. It is expected that rapid identification of tumor necrotic areas can provide prognostic information for early recurrence or death, thus helping to diagnose and treat cancer.