Elemental vs. phase composition of breast calcifications

Abstract Despite the importance of calcifications in early detection of breast cancer, and their suggested role in modulating breast cancer cell behaviour, very little detail is known about their chemical composition or how this relates to pathology. We measured the elemental composition of calcific...

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Autores principales: Robert Scott, Catherine Kendall, Nicholas Stone, Keith Rogers
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Nature Portfolio 2017
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/ef793b1929574b2eb87823b47f465472
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:ef793b1929574b2eb87823b47f4654722021-12-02T15:05:17ZElemental vs. phase composition of breast calcifications10.1038/s41598-017-00183-y2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/ef793b1929574b2eb87823b47f4654722017-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-00183-yhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Despite the importance of calcifications in early detection of breast cancer, and their suggested role in modulating breast cancer cell behaviour, very little detail is known about their chemical composition or how this relates to pathology. We measured the elemental composition of calcifications contained within histological sections of breast tissue biopsies, and related this to both crystallographic parameters measured previously in the same specimens, and to the histopathology report. The Ca:P ratio is of particular interest since this theoretically has potential as a non-invasive aid to diagnosis; this was found to lie in a narrow range similar to bone, with no significant difference between benign and malignant. The Mg:Ca ratio is also of interest due to the observed association of magnesium whitlockite with malignancy. The initially surprising inverse correlation found between whitlockite fraction and magnesium concentration can be explained by the location of the magnesium in calcified tissue. Sodium was also measured, and we discovered a substantial and significant difference in Na:Ca ratio in the apatite phase between benign and malignant specimens. This has potential for revealing malignant changes in the vicinity of a core needle biopsy.Robert ScottCatherine KendallNicholas StoneKeith RogersNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2017)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Medicine
R
Science
Q
spellingShingle Medicine
R
Science
Q
Robert Scott
Catherine Kendall
Nicholas Stone
Keith Rogers
Elemental vs. phase composition of breast calcifications
description Abstract Despite the importance of calcifications in early detection of breast cancer, and their suggested role in modulating breast cancer cell behaviour, very little detail is known about their chemical composition or how this relates to pathology. We measured the elemental composition of calcifications contained within histological sections of breast tissue biopsies, and related this to both crystallographic parameters measured previously in the same specimens, and to the histopathology report. The Ca:P ratio is of particular interest since this theoretically has potential as a non-invasive aid to diagnosis; this was found to lie in a narrow range similar to bone, with no significant difference between benign and malignant. The Mg:Ca ratio is also of interest due to the observed association of magnesium whitlockite with malignancy. The initially surprising inverse correlation found between whitlockite fraction and magnesium concentration can be explained by the location of the magnesium in calcified tissue. Sodium was also measured, and we discovered a substantial and significant difference in Na:Ca ratio in the apatite phase between benign and malignant specimens. This has potential for revealing malignant changes in the vicinity of a core needle biopsy.
format article
author Robert Scott
Catherine Kendall
Nicholas Stone
Keith Rogers
author_facet Robert Scott
Catherine Kendall
Nicholas Stone
Keith Rogers
author_sort Robert Scott
title Elemental vs. phase composition of breast calcifications
title_short Elemental vs. phase composition of breast calcifications
title_full Elemental vs. phase composition of breast calcifications
title_fullStr Elemental vs. phase composition of breast calcifications
title_full_unstemmed Elemental vs. phase composition of breast calcifications
title_sort elemental vs. phase composition of breast calcifications
publisher Nature Portfolio
publishDate 2017
url https://doaj.org/article/ef793b1929574b2eb87823b47f465472
work_keys_str_mv AT robertscott elementalvsphasecompositionofbreastcalcifications
AT catherinekendall elementalvsphasecompositionofbreastcalcifications
AT nicholasstone elementalvsphasecompositionofbreastcalcifications
AT keithrogers elementalvsphasecompositionofbreastcalcifications
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