The lymph system is the predominant route through which cancer spreads for many cancer subtypes. Once cancer has spread from the primary tumor site, surgery is generally no longer “curative.” However, in some cases, it can be if the spread is confined to the nearby lymph nodes, which can be located and removed surgically. To identify cancer spread to lymph nodes, many surgical procedures have adopted a “sentinel lymph node biopsy” protocol, in which the first lymph node draining the tumor is removed and tested for cancer burden. If cancer burden, a more advanced lymph node dissection is often performed (more lymph nodes are removed). However, accurate lymph node cancer detection can take 1-2 days to process the tissue, meaning that patients often have to return for additional surgery if they present with a positive sentinel lymph node. We have developed an optical imaging technology (ADEPT) that has the potential to accurately assess lymph nodes for cancer within 10 min. (see selected references [1-4]) Funding: NSF CAREER 1653627 (2016-2021), Nayar Prize at Illinois Tech (2015-2018).