
Label-free digital pathology using infrared (IR) imaging with subsequent proteomic analysis for bladder cancer (BC) has revealed the first protein biomarker (AHNAK2) for BC.
AHNAK2 differentiates between chronic cystitis and a non-muscle invasive-type BC, which is challenging to diagnose. A report (“Integrated Fourier Transform Infrared Imaging and Proteomics for Identification of a Candidate Histochemical Biomarker in Bladder Cancer”) in the American Journal of Pathology describes this new diagnostic procedure, which is label-free, automated, observer-independent, and as sensitive and specific as established histopathological methods.
“Histopathological differentiation between severe urocystitis with reactive urothelial atypia and carcinoma in situ (CIS) can be difficult, particularly after a treatment that deliberately induces an inflammatory reaction, such as intravesical instillation of Bacillus Calmette-Guèrin. However, precise grading in bladder cancer is critical for therapeutic decision making and thus requires reliable immunohistochemical biomarkers. Herein, an exemplary potential biomarker in bladder cancer was identified by the novel approach of Fourier transform infrared imaging for label-free tissue annotation of tissue thin sections,” wrote the investigators.







