Spontaneous photon emission: A promising non-invasive diagnostic tool for breast cancer.

Author: Zhao X1, Pang J2, Fu J3, Wang Y4, Yang M5, Liu Y3, Fan H3, Zhang L3, Han J6
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup>Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China. <sup>2</sup>Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China; Shandong Medicinal Biotechnology Center, Key Laboratory for Biotech-Drugs of the Ministry of Health, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250062, China. <sup>3</sup>Shandong Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250355, China. <sup>4</sup>Department of Neurosurgery, Shandong Cancer Hospital, Jinan 250117, China. <sup>5</sup>Shandong Medicinal Biotechnology Center, Key Laboratory for Biotech-Drugs of the Ministry of Health, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250062, China. <sup>6</sup>Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China; Shandong Medicinal Biotechnology Center, Key Laboratory for Biotech-Drugs of the Ministry of Health, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250062, China. Electronic address: samshjx@sina.com.
Conference/Journal: J Photochem Photobiol B.
Date published: 2017 Jan
Other: Volume ID: 166 , Pages: 232-238 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2016.12.009. Epub 2016 Dec 14. , Word Count: 300


Ultra-weak photon emission (UPE) has attracted significant scientific attention for its potential to monitor the physiological and pathological characteristics of living systems. In this study, we investigated the strength of spontaneous photon emission (SPE) from the right (R) and left (L) side of body surface of human breast cancer-bearing nude mice models, considering the entire breast cancer growth process, and healthy controls using a photon detector. And then we calculated the ratio of the average SPE strength (ratio (R/L)) between the right and left side of each mouse. Cluster analysis was used to evaluate the accuracy rates of strength-R, strength-L, ratio (R/L) and their combination to identify tumor mice from the controls. Our results revealed that the discriminating powers of different parameters were different in different growth stages of tumor: in tumor incubation period, the accuracy rates of strength-R, strength-L, ratio (R/L) and their combination to identify tumor mice from control mice were 63.6%, 40.9%, 81.8% and 86.4%, respectively; For nude mice with tumor diameter <0.5cm, the accuracies were 72.7%, 45.5%, 86.4% and 90.9%; and for nude mice with tumor diameters larger than 1.5cm, the accuracies were 86.4%, 77.3%, 95.5% and 100%, respectively. These results indicated that the SPE from the body surface of the lesion site could significantly distinguish tumor mice from the controls when tumors were obvious or when there were no obvious morphological changes, although the accuracy was relatively low. The results suggest that SPE, as a sensitive and promising optical method, may contribute to the preliminary screening of breast cancer, especially for early diagnosis, and it may play a critical role in curtailing the effects of breast cancer and improving the survival of patients in the future.

Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

KEYWORDS: Breast cancer; Cluster analysis; Oxidative metabolic; Preliminary screening; Reactive oxygen varieties (ROS); Spontaneous photon emission (SPE)

PMID: 28006691 DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2016.12.009