Non Invasive XRF Analysis of Human Hair for Health State Determination of Breast Tissue

BACKGROUND Using hair samples to analyze the trace element concentrations is of interest among many researchers. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) are the most common methods in studying the structure and concentration of elements of tissues and also crystalline materials, using low energy X-ray. OBJECTIVES In the present study, the detection ability of Wave Length X-ray Fluorescence (WLXRF) of breast cancer at early stages was evaluated and the results were compared with other routine modalities such as mammography. MATERIALS AND METHODS Hair samples of 54 women (including 27 healthy and 27 patients) with average age of 52.03 ± 11.44 years were analyzed. All the sample donors were Iranian women. For the measurements Wave Length X-ray Fluorescence (WLXRF) method was used. RESULTS Trace elements in healthy individuals were higher than those in cancer patients. In addition, sensitivity of the used method (WLXRF) was 96% compared to mammography (77%) as a gold standard for breast cancer detection. CONCLUSIONS Trace elements in healthy individuals were higher than cancer patients and it seems that WLXRF may be used as a safe, low cost and reliable method with sensitivity higher than those of the other two relevant methods, XRD and mammography.