Confocal microscopy: innovative diagnostic tools for monitoring of noninvasive therapy in cutaneous malignancies

Skin pharmaco-toxicological trials rely strongly on established ex-vivo and animal models and invasive diagnostic procedures. Confocal microscopy (CM) has previously been used for noninvasive skin imaging in vivo and has shown good correlation with routine histology. The high incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in organ transplant recipients (OTR) has spurred the concept of noninvasive therapy and diagnosis to increase therapeutic efficacy. This investigation was aimed to evaluate CM as an adjunct tool for therapeutic monitoring in patients with solid organ transplantation and a previous diagnosis of NMSC. Two commercially available confocal reflectance or fluorescence microscopes were used to complement clinical diagnosis and to monitor therapeutic response, noninvasively.

Section editor:Michael Roberts – School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Australia