Figure 1. Design and workflow of photonic nanotechnology for cancer-metastasis detection and profiling.

Distinct nanoparticles were designed with rare-earth-doped cores based on differences in tissue microenvironment (a) to enable whole body screening based on deeper-tissue emanating short-wave infrared emissions. When administered in vivo to biomimetic breast cancer models, these nanoparticles are targeted to reach multi-organ metastatic sites across different pharmacologic barriers(b). Metastatic lesions (in the long bones or adrenal glands) can be detected earlier than conventional methods (bioluminescence, MRI, CT) and molecular changes in cancer cell signatures can be obtained, forming the basis for future metastatic-site specific, personalized cancer therapies(c).