Science to Practice: What Light through Yonder Tumor Breaks: Noninvasive Staging of Cancer--Shining a Light on...

Photoacoustic imaging imparts the ability to distinguish materials according to their differences in optical absorption (ie, their color) with the high spatial and temporal resolution of ultrasonography (US). Experiments in rats show the advantages this approach would have in the clinically important noninvasive determination of the presence of tumor in the lymph nodes draining a tumor, providing the ability to achieve the results of total axillary lymph node dissection without the risks of surgery or even percutaneous sentinel node biopsy. The coupling of this technique to a conventional US imaging system gives the promise of rapid translation to clinical use.