Near-infrared spectroscopy for bladder cancer tissue characterization

What is it about?

The study evaluates the potential of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to differentiate between benign and malignant bladder pathologies ex vivo immediately after resection, including the grade and stage of malignancy. A total of 355 spectra were measured on 71 bladder specimens from patients undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) between April and August 2022. Four diagnostic algorithms were constructed by splitting the spectra into pathological grade groups. A three-group algorithm comparing benign vs low-grade vs high-grade (Algorithm 1) demonstrated excellent results with 97% sensitivity, 98% specificity, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was 0.997. A similar approach was applied to bladder cancer staging analysis to assess depth of cancer invasion. A three-group algorithm comparing non-invasive papillary carcinoma (Ta) vs tumor invading subepithelial connective tissue (T1) vs tumor invading muscle (T2) demonstrated a lower specificity of 92%. Overall, the study concludes that NIR spectroscopy can be safely used to analyze and differentiate bladder cancer tissues in an ex vivo setting that is at the point-of-care, with the potential to influence the extent of resection. [Some of the content on this page has been created by AI]

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Why is it important?

This research is important because it demonstrates the potential of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to accurately diagnose bladder cancer and assess cancer grade and stage in an ex vivo setting immediately after resection. This offers point-of-care assessment of bladder pathology, with the potential to influence the extent of resection, reducing the need for re-resection where invasive disease may be suspected, and limiting potential complications where an extensive diagnostic resection can be limited. Key Takeaways: 1. NIR spectroscopy can safely be used to analyze and differentiate bladder cancer tissues in an ex vivo setting that is at the point-of-care. 2. NIR spectroscopy can further characterize cancer grading and staging with high degrees of diagnostic accuracy. 3. The use of NIR spectroscopy offers point-of-care diagnosis and assessment of bladder pathology, which may help reduce the need for re-resection and potential complications. 4. Future studies utilizing fiber-optic probes offer the potential for in vivo assessment.