Screening of Trace Elements in Hair of the Female Population with Different Types of Cancers in Wielkopolska Region of Poland

Abstract

Background. Cancer constitutes a major health problem worldwide. Thus, search for reliable and practical markers of the disease process remains the key issue of the diagnostic process. Objectives. The study aims at linking the trace element status of an organism, assessed by hair analysis, with the occurrence of cancer diseases. Material and Methods. Hair samples were collected from 299 patients with cancer diseases confirmed by a histopathological test and from 100 controls. Cancer patients were divided into three groups, depending on cancer type: hormone-dependent cancer, cancer of the alimentary tract, and cancer with high glycolytic activity. Mineral element analysis of hair was performed using an atomic emission spectrophotometer with inductively coupled plasma (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results. Statistically significantly lower concentrations of selenium, zinc, copper, germanium and boron, iron, and magnesium were observed in the three groups of cancer patients. Disturbance in the axis glucose-insulin and changes in concentrations of heavy metals and toxic elements were also noted. Conclusions. It seems safe to conclude that our results confirmed usefulness of hair element analysis in screening tests for the assessment of the biomarker of various cancer diseases in a female population.

Human Hair as a Testing Substrate in the Era of Precision Medicine: Potential Role of ‘Omics-Based Approaches

“…Cancers: As in the case with ND, differential PTMs and expression of proteins are manifested in response to cancer. Also differential expression of various trace elements in hair have been found for different types of cancer, in a study carried out among Polish [63] and Indian [64] populations. X-ray diffraction of hair, used in combination with mammography has been reported to significantly improve the sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy for invasive Breast Cancer [65].…”

Occupational Exposure Assessment of Major and Trace Elements in Human Scalp Hair Among a Group of Eritrean Workers

“…In addition, the levels of compounds found in human hair reflect a medium-long exposure time since hair grows approximately 1 cm per month. Consequently, the concentration of an analyte in this matrix represents its level in the body medium from which it was formed, and provides information on "historical" intake from air, water, food, and dermal contact [16] of a great number of environmental contaminants, including organic compounds [17][18][19][20] and inorganic elements [21][22][23][24].…”

Non Invasive XRF Analysis of Human Hair for Health State Determination of Breast Tissue

“…Trace element analysis is a common method for evaluating health state in living tissues ( 6 , 7 ). As most of exertion and also toxic materials which lead to disorders are accumulated in body tissues such as hair.…”

“…As most of exertion and also toxic materials which lead to disorders are accumulated in body tissues such as hair. It seems that measuring the concentrations of these elements can be a useful method for diagnosis of such disease ( 6 ). Many studies have reported that this type of analysis can be helpful for diagnosis of neoplasms and cancers ( 8 - 10 ).…”

“…Using hair samples to analyze the trace element concentrations is of interest among many researchers ( 6 , 10 ). X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) are the most common methods in studying the structure and concentration of elements of tissues and also crystalline materials, using low energy X-ray ( 3 ).…”