Abstract
Confocal Raman microscopy, a non-invasive, label-free, and high spatial resolution imaging technique is employed to trace the anticancer drug paclitaxel in living Michigan Cancer Foundation- 7 (MCF-7) cells. The Raman images were treated by K-mean cluster analysis to detect the drug in cells. Distribution of paclitaxel in cells is verified by calculating the correlation coefficient between the reference spectrum of the drug and the whole Raman image spectra. A time dependent gradual diffusion of paclitaxel all over the cell is observed suggesting a complementary picture of the pharmaceutical action of this drug based on rapid binding of free tubulin to crystallized paclitaxel.