Published online Feb 15, 2019. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v11.i2.153
Peer-review started: September 30, 2018
First decision: December 30, 2018
Revised: January 7, 2019
Accepted: January 8, 2019
Article in press: January 8, 2019
Published online: February 15, 2019
Processing time: 139 Days and 0.7 Hours
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide, and novel methods for early/rapid diagnosis of HCC are needed. Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy is considered to have the potential to distinguish between normal liver tissue and HCC tissue; however, there are few reports on it. We conduct this observational study to explore the feasibility of THz imaging for the diagnosis of HCC.
To evaluate the feasibility of THz for discriminating between HCC and normal liver tissues using fresh tissue specimens obtained from HCC patients who had undergone surgery.
Normal liver tissue and HCC tissue were cryosectioned into 50 μm-thick slices and placed on cover glass. Two adjacent tissue sections were separated subjected to histopathological examination by hematoxylin and eosin staining or THz transmission examination, and THz images were compared with pathologically mapped images. We determined the typical tumor and normal liver tissue regions by pathological examination; the corresponding areas of adjacent sections were examined by THz transmission.
The transmission rate of HCC tissue was 0.15-0.25, and the transmission rate of typical HCC tissue was about 0.2. THz transmittance in normal liver tissue is slightly higher than 0.4, but there were many influencing factors, including the degree of liver cirrhosis, fat components, ice crystals in frozen sections, and apoptosis.
In conclusion, this study shows that THz imaging can detect HCC tissue. Further research will yield more detailed data of the THz transmission rates of HCC tissue with different degrees of differentiation.
Core tip: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide. Currently, the most accurate diagnostic imaging modality for HCC is magnetic resonance imaging. However, it is often difficult to distinguish cirrhotic lesions. THz might be a novel modality as an early/fast diagnosis. In this study, two adjacent tissue sections, which were obtained from patients who had undergone medical surgery, were separately subjected to histo-pathological examination by either hematoxylin and eosin staining or terahertz (THz) transmission examination, and then THz images were compared with pathologically mapped images. Through transmittance coefficients analysis, it was concluded that THz has the ability to distinguish HCC tissues from normal ones.