High-resolution 3D view inside tumors

Vasilis Ntziachristos demonstrates an imaging method similar to multi-spectral optoacoustic mesoscopy. Image: M. Jooss - Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. But individual tumors can vary significantly, presenting different spatial patterns within their mass. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Helmholtz Zentrum München have now succeeded in visualizing spatial changes within tumors by means of optoacoustics. This method may be helpful for the future development of new drugs. Malignant tumors consume nutrients and oxygen faster than healthy cells. To do so, they recruit blood vessels in their environment.