Making cancer visible--Dyes in surgical oncology.

Abstract

Dyes share an intricate relationship with oncology. Dyes can cause cancer as chemical carcinogens, but can also be harnessed against cancer when used as diagnostic and therapeutic agents. Histopathology, imaging, and newer molecular diagnostics all rely on dyes, and their use in sentinel lymph node biopsies and intra-operative imaging has helped drive a paradigm shift in cancer surgery towards minimally-invasive and organ sparing approaches with enhanced resection accuracy. As therapeutic agents, the cytotoxicity of specific dyes can be employed in direct chemo-ablation or in photodynamic therapy. The same agent can have dual functionalities in cancer detection and treatment, in a novel fiel..