Trace element concentration distributions in breast, lung and colon tissues

Abstract

The concentrations of Fe, Cu, Zn and Se in cancerous and benign tissues of breast, lung and intestine (colon) have been determined. In the cases when the element concentration has not been determined in all samples the Kaplan-Meier method has been used for the reconstruction of the original concentration distributions and estimation of the true mean concentrations and medians. Finally, the log-rank test has been applied to compare the elemental concentration distributions between cancerous and benign tissues of the same organ, between cancerous tissues and between benign tissues taken from different organs. Comparing benign and malignant neoplastic tissues, statistically significant differences have been found between Fe and Se concentration distributions of breast as well as for Cu and Zn in the case of lung tissues and in the case of colon tissues for Zn. The concentrations of all elements have been found to be statistically different in cancer tissues as well as in benign ones when comparing the different organs, i.e. groups 'breast-colon' and 'breast-lung'. Concentrations of Fe and Cu have been found to be statistically different in lung and colon cancerous tissues. For benign tissues of lung and colon a statistically significant difference has been found only for Zn.

Role of Ca, Fe, Cu and Zn in breast cancer: study by X‐ray fluorescence techniques and immunohistochemical analysis

“…In addition, except for Fe, all element concentrations are higher in benign tissues than in malignant ones. It is important to note that these data are in agreement with other studies [4,9,35,36] and may be associated with different structural and metabolic aspects, [15,37,38] as well as with tumor development. [39] The results of the Wilcoxon test (paired samples) and the Mann-Whitney test (independent samples) showed that, with the exception of iron and copper, all trace elements studied have a concentration distribution with significant differences when comparing normal and neoplastic tissues (benign or malignant).…”

“…From this figure, it was possible to see that the trace elements have large distributions whose variations may result from several factors, such as diet, age, genetics and especially different disease stages. [4,5] In Fig. 1, it is possible to note that the concentrations of the trace elements are higher in neoplastic tissues (malignant and benign) than in normal tissues.…”

“…Besides, it is crucial to use appropriate techniques, which are capable of measuring the levels of trace elements in a large number of samples. [3][4][5][6] The X-ray fluorescence (XRF) has become, in recent years, a representative multi-element analysis technique for the study of trace elements in biological tissues. [7,8] Particularly, this technique has been used by several groups for analyzing levels of trace elements in breast tissue.…”

X-Ray Fluorescence Techniques in Medical Applications: Reference Values of Elements in Human Serum, Urine and Hair

“…We have also performed in our laboratory a study of elemental composition of various medical samples (serum, malignant, and benign tissues [1,2]) so the information about reference values of element concentration in human biological material is required. To summarize, in the present paper we have dened the range of optimal elemental concentration in serum, urine, and hair.…”

Elemental fingerprinting of tumorous and adjacent non-tumorous tissues from patients with colorectal cancer using ICP-MS, ICP-OES and chemometric analysis

“…Patients with different forms of cancer displayed significant differences in the level of some essential and non-essential elements when normal and malignant tissues are analyzed (Mulay et al 1971;Gregoriadis et al 1983;Rizk and Sky-Peck 1984;Drake and Sky-Peck 1989). Elemental concentration ranges in human tissues are so narrow for the correct functioning of the cells, that still today, the question of if these alterations are a consequence of the disease or can cause it is subjected to conjectures (Majewska et al 2007). …”