Jeanie, a PhD student in our lab has a new publication in MDPI Cancers.

Tubo-ovarian cancers are associated with high mortality. Early diagnosis is associated with better patient outcomes, but there are currently no effective screening measures. The most common and aggressive ovarian cancers originate in the ends of the fallopian tubes.

This paper explores whether a previously developed optical imaging catheter can detect early or occult lesions in the fallopian tubes. This device collects three-dimensional structural images of tissue through optical coherence tomography (OCT) simultaneously with functional imaging through autofluorescence imaging (AFI).

In this study, we imaged ex vivo fallopian tubes from and explored eleven imaging biomarkers for their ability to distinguish early or otherwise undetectable disease.

We found that cancers can be visually distinguished through this approach, and that there are measurable changes within the area of lesion and throughout the specimen.

This approach shows promise and merits further investigation of its diagnostic potential.