Analysis of trace elements in the fingernails of breast cancer patients using instrumental neutron activation analysis

Analysis of trace element levels in the nails in patients with colorectal cancer: Consider to the effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy

“…Since no previous studies have examined the levels of these elements in the nails of colorectal cancer patients, a comparison with previous studies was impossible. In the study of trace element levels in the nails of patients with breast cancer, Huynh et al 21 showed that the Br and Co levels did not differ signi cantly between the control group and the case group, while Cr level did.…”

“…Similar to our previous study 21 , the neutron irradiations were performed for 10 hours on Rotary Rack at a thermal neutron ux of approximately 3.59´10 12 n.cm -2 .s -1 of Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor, Vietnam. At this position, the deviation of the epithermal neutron spectrum and the ratio of thermal/epithermal neutron uxes were a = 0.073 ± 0.001, and f = 37.3 ± 0.4, respectively 52 .…”

“…In the laboratory, the samples were treated as described elsewhere [47][48][49][50][51] and as in our previous study 21 . It can be brie y described as follows: step 1, the samples were rst kept soaked in distilled water for 10 minutes, followed by another 5 minutes in mixing with alcohol with slight shaking; step 2, the samples were soaked to triplicates in acetone with ultrasonic agitation (B2510-DTH, Branson, USA) for one minute; step 3, the samples were treated in the same manner as in the step 2, using 2% Triton X100 (Merck, Germany) instead of the acetone; step 4, the samples were cleaned in triplicates by soaking in distilled water and ultrasonic agitation for one minute; nal step, the cleaned samples were pre-dried by placing them on a lter paper for 12 hours at an ambient temperature.…”

“…Meanwhile, Huynh et al 21 have shown the elements such as Cr, Fe, and Zn were associated with risk of breast cancer by examining trace element levels in the ngernail of women with this disease.…”

“…Nails often re ect the long-term exposure to trace elements 15 ; they can be stored for a long time; and are easy in sample processing. Previously published studies on trace elements in the nails showed that there was a relationship between the trace element levels and the risk of cancer [16][17][18][19][20][21] . Johnson et al 20 evaluated the levels of the following elements: As, Cr, and Ni in toenails, and they showed that there was a relationship between lung cancer and these element levels.…”