Infrared spectroscopy and microscopy in cancer research and diagnosis

Since the middle of the 20th century, infrared (IR) spectroscopy coupled to microscopy has been used as a non destructive, label free, highly sensitive and specific analytical method to reveal molecular structure. Nowadays, synchrotron based IR microspectroscopy offers a signal-to-noise spectral quality unreachable by other broadband sources, and achieves the highest optically attainable IR spatial resolution on microscopic scale samples. This is particularly relevant in Life Sciences, with a significant progression of applications in biomedical research and in particular cancer studies. In view of the validation of the IR fingerprint region as a spectral marker of cancer and anticancer therapy follow up, we have recently performed a set of key experiments on leukemic blasts at the IR beamline B22 ‘MIRIAM’. The results on identification and cross-validation of IR markers of drug actions in the spectra of K562 leukemic blasts are in the following report.