Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic characterization of human breast tissue: Implications for breast cancer diagnosis

Some remarkable spectral differences are observed among normal, benign, and malignant breast tissue samples: (1) characteristic spectral patterns of f ibroadenoma and carcinoma tissues appear in the frequency regions of 950-11 50 cm(-1) and 2800-3050 cm(-1); (2) the peak at 970 cm(-1) is sharper and s tronger, and the prominent bands at 1204, 1280, and 1338 cm(-1) are weaker and broader for carcinoma tissue, whereas the band near 970 cm(-1) is weake r, and the prominent peaks of collagen are sharper and stronger for benign tissues; (3) the hand near 1163 cm(-1) in benign tissues shifts to 1171 cm( -1) in carcinoma tissue; (4) A(1032)/A(1083) and A(2958)/A(2853) ratios in carcinoma tissue are the smallest, whereas they are the highest in fibroade noma tissue among the corresponding ratios; and (5) A(1459)/A(1241) > 1.0 f or normal tissue, A(1453)/A(1239) greater than or equal to 1.0 for fibroade noma, and A(1456)/ A(1239) less than or equal to 1.0 for hyperplasia and ca rcinoma tissues. These significant differences reveal the differences in th e relative contents of nucleic acids and collagen proteins in breast tissue s. Furthermore, these differences have important implications not only for probing and analyzing the developing process of the breast lesion at the mo lecular level but also for evaluating the histological types and grades of breast diseases.