Attempt at Two-Dimensional Mapping of X-ray Fluorescence from Breast Cancer Tissue

A world first two-dimensional mapping of X-ray fluorescence from an invasive papillary carcinoma containing three kinds of metal elements that by white radiation has been obtained. Carcinoma shows intense Ca K X-rays, while normal tissue including stroma, shows no such Ca X-ray signals within experimental precision, but even shows reasonable Fe and Zn K X-ray intensity. This has extremely good correspondence to an X-ray dark-field (X-DF) image taken using a Laue angular analyzer. This fact may suggest an idea that carcinoma may attract Ca atoms better than Fe and Zn atoms, which are involved more in normal tissue.