Mapping fundamental life elements in papillary thyroid carcinoma tissue

Abstract

Well-differentiated papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs) are the most common type of thyroid cancer. Thyroid function depends on the presence of certain trace elements necessary for both the synthesis and the metabolism of thyroid hormones. We conducted an observational translational study on formalin fixed paraffin embedded thyroid tissue slices collected from five patients who underwent surgical resection of thyroid gland after thyroid cancer diagnosis. A synchrotron-based XRF set up was used to map the distribution of oxygen, sodium, aluminum, selenium and magnesium in PTC sections. These experiments were performed at the TwinMic beamline (Elettra -Sincrotrone Trieste, Trieste, Italy). Our results show that Mg levels in PTC tissues are significantly higher than in the control ones. The results seem to provide highly valuable information suggesting that Mg may play a role in the development and metabolic process of PTC. K: Inspection with x-rays; X-ray fluorescence (XRF) systems; Multi-modality systems 1Corresponding author.

Imbalance of Mg Homeostasis as a Potential Biomarker in Colon Cancer

“…Despite not being easily transferrable to clinical practice, XRFM has recently been unveiled as a powerful tool for imaging tissues at micron and sub-micron scales, as demonstrated by our previous data on thyroid cancer [ 31 ]. Being label-free, it provides direct qualitative and quantitative elemental spatial distribution with high resolution, high penetration power and sensitivity.…”

“…Specimens were treated as previously described [ 31 ]. Briefly, the pathologist selected two histological blocks from each patient: one block almost entirely composed of cancer (CRC) and the other one taken from adjacent tissue as control (non-tumoural).…”

“…In this study, we assessed total Mg content and distribution through the X-Ray Fluorescence Microscopy (XRFM) analysis of CRC tissues [ 31 ]. We analysed cancer tissues from four different patients with same CRC diagnosis and staging.…”

Elemental analysis and identification of papillary thyroid cancer tissues using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

“…Zaichick et al 12 assessed the elemental mass fractions in the TC tissues using instrumental neutron activation analysis with high resolution spectrometry of short-lived radionuclides (INAA-SLR) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry, however the process was complex and time-consuming. Merolle et al 15 conducted an observational translational study on formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) TC tissue slices using a synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence (XRF) set-up, and obtained the distribution maps of oxygen, sodium, aluminium, selenium, and magnesium in the PTC sections. The total acquisition time per sample was even longer (in the range of 8–10 h).…”

Oxidation of ultralene and paraffin due to radiation damage after exposure to soft X-rays probed by FTIR microspectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence

“…To be measured, thick samples, like organs, need to be sliced by a microtome; this sample preparation procedure may also require sample embedding in suitable matrices. Paraffin embedding is one of the most common protocols for sectioning human or animal tissues, conventionally used for histopathology studies and often also for X-ray microscopy investigations (Paunesku et al, 2012;Takahashi et al, 2010;Chwiej et al, 2005;Pascolo et al, 2013;Merolle, Ragazzi et al, 2018;Pickler et al, 2019). However, it has been recently demonstrated that both ultralene and paraffin on ultralene undergo degradation and consequent oxidation when exposed to soft X-rays (Bedolla et al, 2018).…”