The colour of cancer: Fascinating medical scans reveal what tumours look like under fluorescent lights and 3D scans

This fluorescent light micrograph shows cancerous cells (green) that line the placenta alongside healthy cells (blue) 

A polyploid giant cancer cell in the breast can be seen in this fluorescent light micrograph. It is a subtype of cancer cell, made up of actin (red), mitochondria (green) and DNA (blue) 

A light micrograph shows metastatic bone cancer cells (blue) starting to break down the large osteoclast (red) - a bone cell which absorbs tissue during growth and healing

Hypoxia (purple) - where the tumour has grown so large it has exceeded its the ability of surrounding blood vessels (red) to provide enough oxygen - can be seen in this 3D transparent tumour tomography image of a breast cancer specimen

A fluorescent light micrograph of breast cancer tissue shows the slowly multiplying cancer cells (red) which are resisting chemotherapy

A fluorescent light micrograph of a HeLa cervical cancer cell shows the cytoskeletal proteins, actin (green) and tubulin (red) - which allows cells to grow and spread (nucleus blue)

Lung cancer cells (red) can be seen spreading to invade surrounding tissue (blue and green) - a process known as metastasis - in this fluorescent light micrograph

This fluorescent light micrograph of HeLa cervical cancer cells show the cytoskeletal proteins, actin (red) and tubulin (green) responsible for making it spread to other cells. Scientists hope to determine how the proteins move through the body to lead them to new therapies that could reverse the process

Cancerous epithelial cells (blue) - tissues that line the cavities and surfaces of blood vessels and organs in the human body - undergoing cell division (yellow)

A fluorescent light micrograph shows desmoplasia - the growth of cancerous tissue (purple) invading healthy cells (green) - in the pancreas

A malignant tumour (green) being surrounded by a build up of healthy cells (purple) can be seen in this 3D transparent tumour tomography image

An optical tissue clearing image of ovarian cancer (green) also shows the interplay of collagen and blood vessels (blue)

A stromal desmoplastic (green) reaction - the growth of cancer (red) invading healthy cells and being repaired with scar-like tissue - can be seen in this fluorescent light micrograph of lung cancer

A 3D transparent tumour tomography image shows the network of blood vessels (blue and red)  of a breast cancer specimen, showing details of the vascular network (blood vessels) and the microenvironment surrounding the malignant tumour

A fluroescent light micrograph shows abnormal cells (yellow and red) growing after having infiltrated healthy cells (blue) in a woman's cervix

Following chemotherapy and an inhibitor drug, this triple-negative breast cancer cell (green) can be seen retracting and undergoing apoptosis (cell death)

Another state of hypoxia (purple) can be seen in this 3D transparent tumour tomography image of a breast cancer specimenRather than killing the tumor, however, hypoxia triggers changes in cancer cell metabolism that actually promote tumor growth and spread.

These fluorescent light micrographs of HeLa cervical cancer cells were taken for scientific research to determine how healthy cells (blue) turn into cancerous ones (green)

A 3D transparent tumour tomography image of a breast cancer specimen shows T cells (yellow, red and blue) attacking the tumour after successful treatment