Lung screening via biophotonic analysis of nanoarchitecture of buccal cells

This grant was funded in part by Upstage Lung Cancer
Vadim Backman, PhD
Northwestern University
Evanston
Ankit Bharat, MBBS
Northwestern University
Evanston
IL

Cells in the respiratory tract are usually stacked in an orderly fashion. As lung cancer develops, the cells get “un-stacked” and their shapes change, giving them the ability to grow and spread to other parts of the body. Dr. Vadim Backman from Northwestern University is utilizing a new technology called Partial Wave Spectroscopy for seeing those cells. With the LUNGevity Early Detection Award, he will check how cells taken from the cheeks of stage I lung cancer patients reflect these early changes with the ultimate goal of using partial wave spectroscopy technology for early detection of lung cancer.