Using second harmonic generation to predict patient outcome in solid tumors

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Oncology
• Medical Diagnostics

Background:

• Over-treatment of chemotherapy in estrogen receptor positive (ER+), lymph node-negative (LNN) breast cancer is a significant clinical issue.
• Accurate prediction of tumor metastatic potential is crucial for optimizing treatment strategies.
• Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) analysis of primary tumor biopsies offers a novel approach to assess metastatic risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the prognostic value of SHG emission direction in predicting metastatic outcomes in ER+, LNN breast cancer.
• To explore the association of SHG F/B ratio with survival rates in various cancer types, including colorectal and lung adenocarcinoma.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of SHG forward-to-backward (F/B) emission ratios in excised primary tumor tissues.
• Correlation of F/B ratios with metastasis-free survival (MFS), overall survival (OS), and progression-free survival (PFS) in patient cohorts.
• Inclusion of ER+ and ER-negative breast cancer, and stage I colorectal and lung adenocarcinoma patient data.

Main Results:

• In ER+, LNN breast cancer, an increased F/B ratio was significantly associated with favorable MFS and OS.
• Conversely, in ER+ recurrent breast cancer treated with tamoxifen, increased F/B predicted shorter PFS.
• An increased F/B ratio in stage I colorectal adenocarcinoma correlated with poor OS, but not significantly in stage I lung adenocarcinoma.

Conclusions:

• The SHG F/B ratio serves as a valuable tool for stratifying ER+, LNN breast cancer patients by tumor aggressiveness.
• This matrix-focused method complements genomic approaches for improved metastatic prediction.
• Combined predictive strategies may help reduce unnecessary patient over-treatment.