Endogenous and Exogenous Fluorescence Skin Cancer Diagnostics for Clinical Applications

Abstract

A short review will be presented of the recent clinical achievements in the field of skin autofluorescence and exogenous fluorescence tumor detection. Photosensitizers used for exogenous photodetection of cutaneous lesions will be discussed from the point of view of their photodynamic diagnostic properties and their advantages and drawbacks associated with clinical applications. A survey on various results of detection and differentiation of the fluorescent data observed from malignant cutaneous lesions will be summarized and an optimization of the skin cancer detection techniques based on fluorescence diagnostics will be analyzed and discussed. A short presentation will be given of own experimental results and clinical experience acquired in the past decade in the autofluorescence diagnostics of different benign, dysplastic, and malignant skin neoplasia. The origins of the fluorescence spectra, their peculiarities, the feasibility of clinical tumor detection, and differentiation needs will also be discussed.