Shining a Light on Skin Cancer

A new device could light the way to combating the most common form of cancer in the United States.

The skin-cancer detection tool combines three light modalities into one device for better detection, thereby subjecting only the most likely skin abnormalities to biopsy—the next, more invasive and expensive stage, of diagnosis.

The multi-modal spectroscopy (MMS) device was conceived by University of Texas at Austin researchers, whose results were published online on August 5 in Review of Scientific Instruments, from AIP Publishing. The researchers, from the university’s Cockrell School of Engineering, say the combined light modes improve diagnosing malignant melanoma and non-melanoma (basal and squamous cell carcinomas) skin cancers.

Multiple spectroscopic techniques enable the instrument to detect changes in cells: diffuse reflectance spectroscopic light, for cell changes in tissue microenvironments; laser-induced fluorescence, for altered tissue matrix, such as with collagen; and Raman spectroscopy, for finding vibrational modes of chemical bonds like those in connective tissues, lipids, and cell nuclei. Pilot clinical trials are underway for the 3-in-1 device and funding agencies and start-up companies have been reached to help get the device to dermatologists.

The American Academy of Dermatology reports that one in five people will develop skin cancer at some time; by 2015, one in 50 will develop melanoma. Reducing this rise requires new techniques that can reach more people, faster.

Other recent innovations in skin cancer detection have put early diagnosis in the hands of the public, more than figuratively. New smartphone apps allow users to photograph suspicious moles and have the images algorithmically referenced against a database of dangerous or benign skin abnormalities. Other apps share the photos directly with dermatologists, who provide a rudimentary diagnosis.

Even present detection tools available to dermatologists inspect potential cancers more superficially than the MMS device. Dermoscopes shine light on the skin with enough magnification to see pigment and structures. MMS, on the other hand, can detect cell changes in tissue microenvironments.

A dermatologist still must biopsy all potential skin cancers for definitive results. The improvement in early stage detection, however, could mean substantial reduction in the nation’s most widely-spread cancer.