Optical methods and nano/microsystems for cancer diagnosis and therapy

Identifier:  TDX:2805

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX2805

Authors:  García Algar, Manuel

Abstract:
This dissertation is focused on the development of new methods for the investigation of cancer diagnosis and therapy. Since biological fluids from patients represents a source of cancerous material, they can provide valuable information about the disease progression, when analyzing them in a liquid biopsy approach. Additionally, physicochemical properties of this circulating material, as entire tumor cells CTCs, can help to engineer systems for its both detection and therapy. The use of fluorescence and SERS spectroscopy has been widely used in microscopic and imaging techniques for the pathological evaluation of cancer disease, so methods based on them permit the advancement in potential tools for the above mentioned purposes. In summary, this work provides two new optical liquid biopsy methods: one based on a universal metabolic pathway proven in specific human lung cancer samples and another using a protein recognition nano/microsystem applied to breast cancer; and an engineered system, as a therapeutic agent for specific breast cancer, evidencing the potential of biophotonics and nanomedicine in the field of cancer research.