A novel method of assessing carcinoma cell proliferation by biophoton emission.

Changes in the emission intensities of ultraweak biophoton emission during the cell proliferation of human carcinoma cell culture (TE9 cell line) were detected using a highly sensitive and low noise measurement apparatus coupled with a flow culture system. In the sampling period of 93 h, the biophoton emission intensity from the culture followed a similar course as that of the growth curve. Spectral analysis of the biophoton emission from the cell culture demonstrated a significant peak at around 530 nm. Our results suggest that the emission intensity mainly depends on the cell population and that this noninvasive technique has a potential role in cancer diagnosis.