Analysis of the depolarizing properties of normal and adenomatous polyps in colon mucosa for the early diagnosis of precancerous lesions

Optical characterization of biological tissues by means of polarimetric techniques is an area of growing interest. Polarized light can be used for malignant neoplasms detection. To our knowledge, few studies have so far focused on lesions that are prone to result in cancer. In this work we present a polarimetric study of depolarization in prepathological tissues. Specifically, we will focus on premalignant lesions in human colon due to their clinical relevance. Colonic adenoma, the potential precursor of malignant adenocarcinoma, provokes significant structural modifications in colon mucosa that affect light depolarization. The depolarizing properties of normal and adenomatous polyps mucosa are compared. The average linear degree of polarization is shown to present a strong dependence with the precancerous state of the colonic tissue. This method has the potential to enable an early diagnosis of colon cancer. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.