Label-free multiphoton imaging to rapidly classify the early and late-stage tumor necrosis in invasive breast cancer

Necrosis is a form of cell death which is histologically characterized by homogeneous clusters and sheets of dead cells. Although several studies have indicated that the presence of tumor necrosis in pathological specimens may provide adverse prognostic information in solid tumor, the mechanism of necrosis is still unclear. Based on two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) and second-harmonic generation (SHG), multiphoton microscopy (MPM) is commonly used to monitor the morphological changes of biological tissues. In this study, we performed MPM imaging of the breast tissue and found that MPM can be used to rapidly classify the early and late-stage tumor necrosis in invasive breast cancer according to the changes of intracellular proteins. It demonstrated that MPM may provide a new assistant tool for pathologists to quickly and effectively classify the early and late-stage tumor necrosis.