Dielectric spectroscopy signature for cancer diagnosis: A review.

The effective clinical management of cancer is entirely dependent on the detection at a suitable early time as well as on the proper diagnosis. The main aim of this review is to survey the applications of dielectric spectroscopy in the clinical cancer diagnosis and distinguishing between normal and tumor tissues. This review focuses on the recognition of the biophysical properties of normal and malignant tissues and also of biophysical changes elicited by cancers comprising (breast, liver, thyroid gland, lung, skin, bladder, uterine and ovarian, lung, and prostate) tumors. These biophysical changes are often produced because of the difference in tissue composition, blood flow, and architecture between normal and malignant cells. From the literature, it has been observed that dielectric spectroscopy method can be applied before, during or after tumor surgery; and most of the results are confirmed by conventional analysis such as histopathology. Moreover, by dielectric spectroscopy technique, dielectric parameters, especially conductivity, and permittivity were suggested to be biomarkers for the densification of cancerous patients of the previously mentioned cancer types. It could be concluded that dielectric spectroscopy rapidly provides the biophysical status of normal tissues and cancerous ones and thus can be applied effectively for the early diagnosis and detection of cancers. It could be a promising diagnostic tool in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]