Multiphoton microscopy has become a novel biological imaging technique that allows cellular and subcellular microstructure imaging based on two-photon excited fluorescence and second harmonic generation. In this work, we used multiphoton microscopy to obtain the high-contrast images of human normal breast tissue and two main histologic types of fibroadenoma (intracanalicular, pericanalicular). Moreover, quantitative image analysis was performed to characterize the changes of collagen morphology (collagen content, collagen orientation). The results show that multiphoton microscopy combined with quantitative method has the ability to identify the characteristics of fibroadenoma including changes of the duct architecture and collagen morphology in stroma. With the advancement of multiphoton microscopy, we believe that the technique has great potential to be a real-time histopathological diagnostic tool for intraoperative detection of fibroadenoma in the future.

Morphological alteration of cells and matrices is critical for tumor initiation and progression. Monitoring these alterations during tumor progression is vitally important for making real-time histological diagnoses of tumor staging. In this study, 20 pairs of normal and cancerous human breast tissues were imaged by multiphoton microscopy (MPM), and nuclear area and collagen density were quantified by LSM 5 software (version 3.2). Comparison of MPM images from normal breast tissue with low- and high-grade invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) lesions clearly showed changes in both cellular features and extracellular matrix architecture during IDC development. Moreover, analysis of nuclear area and collagen density established a quantitative link between these two morphological features and progression of IDC. Present results demonstrated that MPM can provide both qualitative and quantitative evaluations of tumor progression. With additional development, this technique has the potential to make real-time histological diagnoses of tumor staging and guide development of efficacious clinical therapies.

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Intraductal carcinoma is a precancerous lesion of the breast and the immediate precursor of invasive ductal carcinoma. Multiphoton microscopy (MPM) was used to monitor the progression from intraductal carcinoma to invasive ductal carcinoma, which can improve early detection of precursor lesions and halt progression to invasive neoplastic disease. It was found that MPM has the capability to reveal the qualitative changes in features of cells, structure of basement membranes, and architecture of collagens during the development from intraductal carcinoma to invasive ductal carcinoma, as well as the quantitative alterations in nuclear area, circle length of basement membrane, and collagen density. Combined with intra-fiberoptic ductoscopy or transdermal biopsy needle, MPM has the potential to provide immediate histological diagnosis of tumor progression in the field of breast carcinoma.

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