Affiliation:
1. Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria
2. General Surgery Department, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC), Ile Ife, Nigeria
3. Department of Physics, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria
4. Center for Energy Research and Development, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria
Abstract
In this study, we applied particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) spectroscopy to investigate the levels of trace elements in breast tissues and whole blood (cancerous and non-cancerous) of selected African women in Ile-Ife, Southwest Nigeria. Freeze-dried and homogenized specimens obtained through mastectomy from clinically diagnosed patients were made into 11-mm-diameter pellets. The pellets were irradiated with 2.5 MeV proton beam energy from a 1.7 MV 5SDH Tandem accelerator. The PIXE analytical system was calibrated with certified reference matrices of Bovine Liver and Animal Blood: NIST 1577a and IAEA-A-13, respectively. A total of 23 elements: Na, K, Ca, Cl, S, Al, P, Si, Zn, Pb, Br, Rb, Zr, Se, Sr, Mn, V, Ti, Cu, Fe, Ni, Cr, and Mg were detected. The results indicated that the levels were within 0.9-5288 and 0.6-2320 ppm in breast tissues and 0.3-17228 and 2.0-2475 ppm in the whole blood of cancerous and non-cancerous subjects, respectively. At the .05 level of significance, significant differences exist between these levels in the cancerous and non-cancerous breast tissues ( t = 0.008) as well as the whole blood ( t = 0.041). The results gave the baseline concentration of the observed trace elements in the normal and malignant subjects and indicated PIXE as a powerful tool for such investigation.