Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei 91-95, 050095 Bucharest, Romania.
Immunology Department, "Victor Babes" National Institute of Pathology, 050096 Bucharest, Romania.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jan 5;24(2):1079. doi: 10.3390/ijms24021079.
Early diagnosis is essential for completely eradicating skin cancer and maximizing patients' clinical benefits. Emerging optical imaging modalities such as reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM), optical coherence tomography (OCT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), near-infrared (NIR) bioimaging, positron emission tomography (PET), and their combinations provide non-invasive imaging data that may help in the early detection of cutaneous tumors and surgical planning. Hence, they seem appropriate for observing dynamic processes such as blood flow, immune cell activation, and tumor energy metabolism, which may be relevant for disease evolution. This review discusses the latest technological and methodological advances in imaging techniques that may be applied for skin cancer detection and monitoring. In the first instance, we will describe the principle and prospective clinical applications of the most commonly used imaging techniques, highlighting the challenges and opportunities of their implementation in the clinical setting. We will also highlight how imaging techniques may complement the molecular and histological approaches in sharpening the non-invasive skin characterization, laying the ground for more personalized approaches in skin cancer patients.
早期诊断对于彻底根除皮肤癌和最大限度地提高患者的临床获益至关重要。新兴的光学成像方式，如反射共聚焦显微镜（RCM）、光相干断层扫描（OCT）、磁共振成像（MRI）、近红外（NIR）生物成像、正电子发射断层扫描（PET）及其组合，提供了非侵入性的成像数据，可能有助于早期发现皮肤肿瘤和进行手术规划。因此，它们似乎适合观察血流、免疫细胞激活和肿瘤能量代谢等动态过程，这些过程可能与疾病的演变有关。本文综述了用于皮肤癌检测和监测的成像技术的最新技术和方法学进展。首先，我们将描述最常用的成像技术的原理和潜在的临床应用，强调其在临床环境中的实施所面临的挑战和机遇。我们还将强调成像技术如何在提高非侵入性皮肤特征方面补充分子和组织学方法，为皮肤癌患者的个性化治疗方法奠定基础。
