Time-lapse analysis of laser phase shift for noninvasive discrimination of human normal cells and malignant tumor cells

Time-lapse analysis of phase shift using phase-shifting laser microscopy (PLM) revealed that the laser phase shifts of primary normal human prostate epithelial cells (PRECs) and human prostatic carcinoma epithelial cell line (PC-3) cells during the mitotic phase were markedly higher than those in the interphase. The phase shift of PC-3 cells during the interphase was markedly lower than that of PRECs throughout the cell cycle. In conclusion, it was proposed that adherent PC-3 cancer cells could be noninvasively discriminated from normal adherent PRECs by the periodical measurement of phase shift using PLM during culture.