Breast cancer diagnosis using scattered X-rays

Small-angle X-ray diffraction data has been collected from 99 'core-cut' br east tissue specimens representing a number of different pathologies. Data in the range 75-1390 Angstrom have been compared with controls from patient s with no breast disease. Bessel functions and Bragg maxima resulting from the fibrillar structure of collagen have been identified. The Bragg maxima indexed onto a 649 Angstrom lattice. Systematic differences in the intensit ies and D-spacings between the collagen of malignant, benign and normal tis sue groups have been clearly demonstrated and quantified. These differences appear to be due to a significantly lower structural order within the mali gnant tissues. Possible explanations for this are discussed and the potenti al for utilizing this observation in cancer diagnosis is considered.