Study of Br, Zn, Cu and Fe concentrations in healthy and cancer breast tissues by TXRF

Tissue samples of fifteen breasts were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry in order to compare the elemental concentration in healthy and carcinoma regions of the same individual. Five women were from Germany and ten from Portugal living in big cities. The elemental distribution of P, S, K, Ca, Fe, Ni, Zn, Cu and Br present in both normal and cancerous breast tissues were studied. Several contiguous thin sections (up to 10 μm thickness) of each tissue were analyzed by TXRF in order to study the homogeneity in the elemental concentration along each tissue. Correlations between elemental concentrations were established.The main goal of this study was to demonstrate the presence of Br which is assumed to play an important role in breast carcinoma development. A similar pattern for almost all the analyzed tissues was obtained: levels of P, S, K, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn and Br increased in carcinoma tissues when compared with the corresponding healthy ones.Contrarily to the findings of this study, those of early studies showed decreased Br levels for different carcinoma tissues, unlike to most other heavy elements.