The characterization of cancer histological sections as metastatic, M, or not-metastatic, NM, at the cellular size level is important for early diagnosis and treatment. We present timely warning markers of metastasis, not identified by existing protocols and used methods. Digitized atomic force microscopy images of human histological cross-sections of M and NM colorectal cancer cells were analyzed by multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis and the generalized moments method analysis. Findings emphasize the multifractal character of all samples and accentuate room for the differentiation of M from NM cross-sections. Two universal markers emphatically achieve this goal performing very well: (a) the ratio of the singularity parameters (left/right), which are defined relative to weak/strong fluctuations in the multifractal spectrum, is always greater than 0.8 for NM tissues; and (b) the index of multifractality, used to classify universal multifractals, points to log-normal distribution for NM and to log-Cauchy for M tissues. An immediate large-scale screening of cancerous sections is doable based on these findings.
Keywords: atomic force microscopy imaging; metastatic cancer; multifractal analysis.