Optical diagnostics of liver tumors using an autofluorescence lifetime probe

Year: 2025

Authors: Suraci D., Tirloni L., Gatto C., Pillozzi S., Antonuzzo L., Taddei A., Cicchi R.

Autors Affiliation: CNR, Natl Inst Opt, Natl Res Council, INO, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Careggi Univ Hosp, Hepatobiliopancreat Surg, I-50134 Florence, Italy; Univ Florence, Dept Expt & Clin Biomed Sci Mario Serio, Florence, Italy; Careggi Univ Hosp, Clin Oncol Unit, I-50134 Florence, Italy; Univ Florence, Dept Expt Clin Med, I-50134 Florence, Italy; European Lab Nonlinear Spect LENS, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.

Abstract: Liver cancer is a global health challenge and its incidence is expected to grow worldwide to 1 million new cases in 2025. While hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common liver cancer, hepatic metastases of colorectal cancer (CRLM) occur in almost 50% of patients with CRC. For both HCC and CRLM, surgical resection represents the only chance of long-term survival. In this context, a label-free optical surgical guidance tool would be highly suitable for reducing the positive margin rate and improving patient outcomes. In this study, we used a fiber-based autofluorescence lifetime imaging probe to provide real-time discrimination of tumor from marginal tissues in freshly excised liver samples. The proposed method allowed discriminating tumors from healthy tissue by reporting the fluorescence lifetime decay of cellular metabolic biomarkers, i.e., NAD(P)H and FAD. The acquisitions on 37 surgical specimens of both HCC and CRLM demonstrate that this approach is a method for delineating tumor borders with 67.7% and 77% accuracy, respectively. The results, combined with the ability to capture and process images in real time under bright background, highlight the technology’s potential for clinical use for both label-free tissue diagnostics and surgical guidance. (c) 2025 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement

Journal/Review: BIOMEDICAL OPTICS EXPRESS

Volume: 16 (10)      Pages from: 3923  to: 3935

More Information: Co-funded by the European Union NextGenerationEU, program PRIN 2022 (grant number 2022Y9YP9C ALIAS) ; Co-funded by the European Union under HEU-GA (101131771 Lasers4EU) .
KeyWords: Time; Carcinoma; Spectroscopy; Metastases; Resection; Nadh
DOI: 10.1364/BOE.572468