Fluorescence Cancer Imaging

Cancer encompasses an enormously complex family of diseases in which cell growth and function have become dysregulated to the extent that cells proliferate uncontrollably and can migrate to distant sites, called metastases. Multiple factors mediate cancer development, including environmental and genetic factors that can destabilize cells. Diagnosis of cancer presents many difficulties, particularly in early stages, due to a lack of overt symptoms. Even as the disease progresses, diagnosis and treatment can be difficult as cancer tissues are difficult to differentiate from surrounding nontumor tissues. Imaging strategies that employ cancer-targeting mechanisms can radically improve detection sensitivity and specificity and potentially provide biological information such as advanced staging of the disease, potential for susceptibility to certain anticancer drugs, and guidance to maximize completeness of surgical resection. Although there are many imaging modalities, this article focuses on the molecular imaging of cancer, with emphasis on the contributions of diverse fluorophore systems in the detection, staging, and diagnosis of cancer.