Skin Cancer Pathobiology at a Glance: A Focus on Imaging Techniques and Their Potential for Improved Diagnosis and Surveillance in Clinical Cohorts

Early diagnosis is essential for completely eradicating skin cancer and maximizing patients' clinical benefits. Emerging optical imaging modalities such as reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM), optical coherence tomography (OCT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), near-infrared (NIR) bioimaging, positron emission tomography (PET), and their combinations provide non-invasive imaging data that may help in the early detection of cutaneous tumors and surgical planning. Hence, they seem appropriate for observing dynamic processes such as blood flow, immune cell activation, and tumor energy metabolism, which may be relevant for disease evolution. This review discusses the latest technological and methodological advances in imaging techniques that may be applied for skin cancer detection and monitoring. In the first instance, we will describe the principle and prospective clinical applications of the most commonly used imaging techniques, highlighting the challenges and opportunities of their implementation in the clinical setting. We will also highlight how imaging techniques may complement the molecular and histological approaches in sharpening the non-invasive skin characterization, laying the ground for more personalized approaches in skin cancer patients.

Automated summary

Early diagnosis is crucial for effectively treating skin cancer. Emerging optical imaging techniques, such as RCM, OCT, MRI, NIR bioimaging, and PET, can provide non-invasive imaging data for early detection and monitoring of cutaneous tumors. These techniques can observe dynamic processes relevant to disease evolution, including blood flow, immune cell activation, and tumor energy metabolism. This review discusses the latest advances in imaging techniques for skin cancer detection and monitoring, highlighting the challenges and opportunities for their implementation in clinical practice and their potential to complement molecular and histological approaches.