Optical molecular imaging in head and neck tumors: advancing surgical precision by looking and listening to light

Successful surgical treatment of malignant tumors requires adequate detection of the tumor tissue and its expansion into surrounding structures to ensure complete removal. Currently, no tools are available for the surgeon to differentiate between tumor and healthy tissue. Optical molecular imaging techniques may be a valuable addition to the surgical armamentarium, using light for real-time visualization of tumor cells with high sensitivity and spatial resolution. This thesis investigates the use of optical molecular imaging techniques for preoperative and intraoperative tumor detection and shows their potential to better select patients for surgical treatment and facilitate intraoperative decision-making that can benefit oncological outcomes. The final part of this thesis highlights the need for standardized data acquisition and analysis to establish effective and reproducible multi-center clinical trials and determine the true clinical value of optical molecular imaging.