Towards targeted colorectal cancer biopsy based on tissue morphology assessment by compression optical coherence elastography

• Published in: Frontiers in oncology 2023-03, Vol.13, p.1121838-1121838
• Main Authors: Plekhanov, Anton A, Sirotkina, Marina A, Gubarkova, Ekaterina V, Kiseleva, Elena B, Sovetsky, Alexander A, Karabut, Maria M, Zagainov, Vladimir E, Kuznetsov, Sergey S, Maslennikova, Anna V, Zagaynova, Elena V, Zaitsev, Vladimir Y, Gladkova, Natalia D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: colon tissue; colorectal cancer; compression optical coherence elastography (C-OCE); morphology assessment; Oncology; optical biopsy
• ISSN: 2234-943X; 2234-943X
• DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1121838

Identifying the precise topography of cancer for targeted biopsy in colonoscopic examination is a challenge in current diagnostic practice. For the first time we demonstrate the use of compression optical coherence elastography (C-OCE) technology as a new functional OCT modality for differentiating between cancerous and non-cancerous tissues in colon and detecting their morphological features on the basis of measurement of tissue elastic properties. The method uses pre-determined stiffness values (Young's modulus) to distinguish between different morphological structures of normal (mucosa and submucosa), benign tumor (adenoma) and malignant tumor tissue (including cancer cells, gland-like structures, cribriform gland-like structures, stromal fibers, extracellular mucin). After analyzing in excess of fifty tissue samples, a threshold stiffness value of 520 kPa was suggested above which areas of colorectal cancer were detected invariably. A high Pearson correlation (r =0.98; p