Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopic Characterization of Human Breast Tissue: Implications for Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Abstract

Some remarkable spectral differences are observed among normal, benign, and malignant breast tissue samples: (1) characteristic spectral patterns of fibroadenoma and carcinoma tissues appear in the frequency regions of 950–1150 cm−1 and 2800–3050 cm−1; (2) the peak at 970 cm−1 is sharper and stronger, 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 weaker, and the prominent peaks of collagen are sharper and stronger for benign tissues; (3) the band near 1163 cm−1 in benign tissues shifts to 1171 cm−1 in carcinoma tissue; (4) A1032/ A1083 and A2958/ A2853 ratios in carcinoma tissue are the smallest, whereas they are the highest in fibroadenoma tissue among the corresponding ratios; and (5) A1459/ A1241 > 1.0 for normal tissue, A1453/ A1239 > 1.0 for fibroadenoma, and A1456/ A1239 < 1.0 for hyperplasia and carcinoma tissues. These significant differences reveal the differences in the relative contents of nucleic acids and collagen proteins in breast tissues. Furthermore, these differences have important implications not only for probing and analyzing the developing process of the breast lesion at the molecular level but also for evaluating the histological types and grades of breast diseases.