MELANOMA STUDIES BY MEANS OF CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY AND SECOND HARMONIC GENERATION

Newly developed confocal techniques are perspective for potentially clinical applications (mainly skin pathologies). The new repertoire of tissue, cell and vessel imaging produced by these approaches needs to be understood in its significance. More than one confocal method could be used to improve the diagnostic value. To investigate these possibilities, we performed observations of cancer tissue in vivo in totally anesthetized animals, and ex vivo on freshly harvested specimens. Murine B16F10 melanoma cells were SC inoculated in syngeneic mice. When tumors developed into up to 15-20 mm in diameter, they were studied either directly or after hyperthermia (microwave treatment).