Establishment of Patient-Derived Breast tumor Xenograft and assessment of tumor progression by photoacoustic spectroscopy ex vivo.

Breast cancer is a deadly disease and the most frequent cause of cancer death among women globally. The breast tumor can be detected using techniques such as X-Ray, MRI techniques, etc. But, these techniques come with limitations like false negative results and other side effects. Therefore, in addition to the currently available radiological screening tools, alternative strategies to improve the early detection procedures are highly recommended. Photoacoustic spectroscopy is a sensitive technique which works on the principle of absorption of electromagnetic radiation. With this technique, it is possible to distinguish the tumor and normal tissues without requiring preparation of the sample, in a non-invasive way using non-ionizing radiation. In the future, this technique can be used in the prognosis of Breast cancer if the current study can uncover significant photoacoustic signatures in human samples. Since Patient-Derived Xenograft (PDX) models retain the principal histologic and genetic characteristics of the donor patient’s tumor, the photoacoustic studies on humanized samples can provide us valuable information and would be a powerful tool to predict clinical conditions in humans.