Differentiation of elemental composition of normal and malignant breast tissue by instrumental neutron activation analysis

Multi-elemental quantitative analyses of 15 paired samples of normal and malignant human breast tissue by instrumental neutron activation analysis are reported. The elements, Al, Br, Ca, Cl, Co, Cs, Fe, K, Na, Rb, Zn were detected. Significantly elevated concentration levels were found for Al, Br, Ca, Cl, Cs, K, Na, Zn in malignant compared to normal tissue. Although the role of elemental composition in breast cancer is unclear, this finding may be of importance as another parameter for differentiating normal from malignant tissue.