Ultra-weak Delayed Luminescence in cancer research: A review of the results by the ARETUSA equipment

• The role of photoinduced ultraweak luminescence in cancer research is pointed out.
• Normal and cancer cells discrimination and test of anticancer drugs are reported.
• Advanced detection systems, employing small volumes of cell cultures, are described.
• Data modelling by hyperbolic trends gives useful parameters in cell discrimination.
• The role of MRC Complex I in photoinduced ultraweak luminescence is envisaged.

The study of the photoinduced ultraweak photon emission in the optical wavelength range, namely the Delayed Luminescence, from human cells and tissues has an increasingly growing interest in view of its possible application in optical biopsy. Due to the low level, dedicated experimental set-up are necessary to reveal such photoluminescence signal. The paper reviews the results obtained in the field of cancer research, by using the experimental equipment for fast ultraweak luminescence analysis ARETUSA developed at the National Southern Laboratories of the National Nuclear Physics Institute (LNS-INFN), in Catania, Italy. Delayed Luminescence signals from normal and cancer cells are compared and the relationship between Delayed Luminescence and apoptosis is investigated.