In its first laboratory tests on human tissue, a light-based probe built by researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering, Durham, N.C

In its first laboratory tests on human tissue, a light-based probe built by researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering, Durham, N.C., almost instantly detected the earliest signs of cancer in cells that line internal organs. The vast majority of cancers start in the body's epithelial cells, which line the mucous membranes in the lungs, esophagus, and stomach.

The technique might enable physicians and their patients to avoid removal of tissue for biopsy, or it could help doctors pinpoint suspicious cells during a traditional biopsy procedure.

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