Excitation–emission matrices and synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancers

We report the development of an improved fluorescence technique for cancer diagnostics in the gastrointestinal tract. We investigate the fluorescence of ex vivo colorectal (cancerous and healthy) tissue samples using excitation–emission matrix (EEM) and synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy (SFS) steady-state approaches. The obtained results are processed for revealing characteristic fluorescence spectral features with a valuable diagnostic meaning. The main tissue fluorophores, contributing to the observed fluorescence, are tyrosine, tryptophan, NADH, FAD, collagen and elastin. Based on the results of the Mann–Whitney test as useful parameters for differentiation of gastrointestinal cancer from normal mucosa, we suggest using excitation wavelengths in the range 300 – 360 nm for fluorescence spectroscopy and wavelengths intervals of 60 nm and 90 nm for SFS.