A Multiple Increase in the Content of Some Chemical Elements in Breast Tissue After its Malignant Transformation. Original Data and Mini Review

The etiology of breast cancer remains largely unclear, although it is known that disturbances of somatic elemental homeostasis play a certain role in oncogenesis. This study aimed to identify changes in the content of chemical elements during malignant transformation of breast tissue. For this purpose, an effective method of small samples (mass from 10 mg) analysis by means of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry was developed. With the help of the developed technique, the samples of cancerous (n=43) and normal (n=38) breast tissues were studied. Differences in the content of chemical elements were analyzed using Student’s t-test and Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney U-test. In patients with breast cancer the mean mass fractions of Al, Ba, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, S, Si, Sr, Ti, and Zn in malignant breast tissue were (mg kg-1 dry tissue) 8.88, 0.42, 650, 3.90, 123, 4347, 302, 0.47, 6262, 3867, 4599, 10.2, 1.37, 4.55, and 34.2, respectively, and were 2.45, >4.2, 8.37, 3.79, 8.91, 22.4, 16.3, >2.35, 9.13, 19.2, 11.9, 1.17, 2.74, >4.55, and 10.4 times higher than in healthy gland tissue. All differences identified were statistically significant except for Si. The phenomenon of the multiple increase in the Al, Ba, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, S, Sr, Ti. and Zn contents in the malignant breast tumors requires further detailed study.