Fluorescence spectroscopy for premalignant and malignant lesions in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Medical aspects and recent advances

Autofluorescence spectroscopy using violet-blue excitation light id being investigated for in-vivo diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancer and dysplastic lesions during routine-endoscopy. Fluorescence spectra were obtained from normal mucosa, cancer and dysplastic lesions of the esophagus and stomach. Esophageal squamous cell cancer and gastric adenomatous lesions showed special differences in the emitted fluorescence spectra compared with normal mucosa, although the differences were less specific than the differences seen with dysplastic gastric adenomas. (author)