Extremely Early Diagnostic Test for Prostate Cancer.

PURPOSE: This article reports the results of a blinded fibre diffraction study of skin samples taken from TRAMP mice and age-matched controls to determine whether changes noted in fibre diffraction studies of human skin were present in these TRAMP mice studies. These mice are bred to progress to Gleeson Type 3 to Type 5 prostate cancer. METHODS: Small strips, 1mm×5mm, cut from the mouse skin samples were loaded into cells in the same way as human samples and slightly stretched to remove the crimp. They remained completely hydrated throughout exposure to the synchrotron beam. RESULTS: The added change that was reported for prostate cancer in 2009 was obtained for all TRAMP mice samples, indicating that this change can be read as High Grade Cancer in human diagnostic tests. DISCUSSION: These changes were evident for all 3 and 7 week old TRAMP mice samples but not for any of the control samples. This indicates that the changes in the fibre diffraction patterns appear much earlier than in any other available prostate cancer diagnostic test which cannot verify the presence of prostate cancer before 10 weeks of age. The fibre diffraction test is therefore the most accurate and earliest test for high grade prostate cancer.

The Connection between the Presence of Melanoma and Changes in Fibre Diffraction Patterns.

An accurate diagnosis of melanomas at an early stage correlates directly with a better prognosis. However the incidence of melanoma is still increasing along with the number of related deaths. Melanoma cells grow extremely fast, with the result that many patients present after metastasis has occurred, too late for effective treatment. This paper describes the changes in the fibre diffraction patterns of skin that indicate the presence of a melanoma. Identification of these changes would provide an alternative early low-cost, totally reliable diagnostic test which could be conducted on a regular basis in local radiology facilities using rotating anode x-ray generators or as a mass screening test using suitable small angle x-ray beam-lines at synchrotrons.

Fiber diffraction of skin and nails provides an accurate diagnosis of malignancies.

An early diagnosis of malignancies correlates directly with a better prognosis. Yet for many malignancies there are no readily available, noninvasive, cost-effective diagnostic tests with patients often presenting too late for effective treatment. This article describes for the first time the use of fiber diffraction patterns of skin or fingernails, using X-ray sources, as a biometric diagnostic method for detecting neoplastic disorders including but not limited to melanoma, breast, colon and prostate cancers. With suitable further development, an early low-cost, totally noninvasive yet reliable diagnostic test could be conducted on a regular basis in local radiology facilities, as a confirmatory test for other diagnostic procedures or as a mass screening test using suitable small angle X-ray beam-lines at synchrotrons.

A place for fiber diffraction in the detection of breast cancer?

AIMS: To review the potential relevance and the place that a particular change in the fiber diffraction of hair might have in the future management of breast cancer and other pathologies. METHOD: A comprehensive overview was obtained using a complete search of the Australian National University Library (data range) and Medline (data range) using the search terms "review breast cancer screening/diagnosis/detection" and "X-ray diffraction of hair". Publications in the past 5 years were selected but older reports that were commonly referenced were not excluded. RESULTS: To date, our results have demonstrated that a specific change occurs in the diffraction pattern of hair for persons with breast cancer. Further research has shown that this change is present in the hair at an earlier stage of the cancer growth than is detectable by mammography. In addition, the change has been found to disappear when the cancer has been successfully removed. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: This technology uses only a few hairs, is totally user-friendly, non-invasive and does not require the patient to be exposed to any radiation. As a low-risk procedure, it could potentially provide a much needed, cost-effective early screening test for the presence of breast cancer in women of any age. As the patients are not required to be present during the test, it could also provide a testing service for women in remote areas. In this review, the origin of the diffraction pattern and the diagnostic information that can be gleaned from it are outlined.

Fibre diffraction of hair can provide a screening test for Alzheimer's disease: a human and animal model study.

BACKGROUND: Studies of molecular changes in hair as possible biomarkers for specific cancers revealed an additional molecular change in the diffraction patterns of some persons aged over 75. This change was found to correlate with the presence of Alzheimer's disease (AD). To confirm this correlation and its relation to the presence of a human APP mutation, known to definitely cause AD, hairs were examined from AD patients, pregnant women known to have an increase in plasma beta amyloid and transgenic mice carrying a mutated human APP gene. Patients were clinically examined by an experienced physician who recorded the patient's history and completed physical and neurological examinations. Hair samples were held taut and centred in the beam. The diffraction patterns were collected on Fuji-Bas Imaging plates and analysed using standard programs. MATERIAL/METHODS: A fan-shaped set of spot-like reflections was observed in the equatorial diffraction patterns from the hair of all AD patients and all third trimester pregnant women. Combined fibre diffraction of hair and histopathologic examination of brains from transgenic mice carrying a mutated human APP gene confirmed that these changes are related to the mutated human APP genes and the formation of beta amyloid plaques. RESULTS: Here we show results that fibre diffraction analysis would provide a non-invasive, accurate bio-marker for Alzheimer's disease. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that this marker is related to the presence of mutated human APP genes and indicate that the structural change precedes the significant development of plaques. CONCLUSIONS: Here we show results that fibre diffraction analysis would provide a non-invasive, accurate bio-marker for Alzheimer's disease. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that this marker is related to the presence of mutated human APP genes and indicate that the structural change precedes the significant development of plaques.

Fibre diffraction from a single hair can provide an early non-invasive test for colon cancer.

BACKGROUND: Molecular structural changes in hair, skin and breast associated with breast cancer have been observed using synchrotron fibre diffraction. These results raised the possibility that such hair studies might be used as a non-invasive diagnostic marker for breast cancer. A series of double-blinded studies was undertaken to establish the specificity of such a tool. Hair samples from controls, patients with cancers of the breast and other sites including the colon were studied. An associated study of collagenous colon tissue was also undertaken. MATERIAL/METHODS: Single hairs were used for the fibre diffraction study. Collagenous colon samples were dissected near the tumour and from the ends of the colon section. The protocols followed exactly the associated breast cancer studies. RESULTS: A ring of radius 4.53+/- 0.03 nm, superimposed on the patterns obtained for the controls, was observed in the diffraction patterns for the hair of all colon cancer patients. This radius is different from that observed for breast cancer. In the collagen tissue study, two discrete sets of additional rings are superimposed on the normal collagenous colon pattern, one for samples adjacent to the tumour and one for samples distal from the tumour. The latter revealed that tissue at the point of dissection was not always normal. CONCLUSIONS: Here we show that, since the sensitivity and specificity for the difference observed in the diffraction patterns of hair in colon cancer are both 100%, a fibre diffraction analysis could be a simple, non-invasive screening test for colon cancer.

The traps and pitfalls inherent in the correlation of changes in the fibre diffraction pattern of hair with breast cancer.

After a correlation between breast cancer and changes in the fibre x-ray diffraction of hair was first published, a number of groups reported their failure to reproduce this phenomenon. There is evidence that these failures resulted from either diffraction images of insufficient quality or analysis techniques unable to distinguish features resulting from the presence of breast cancer from those resulting from mechanical damage. Using an independent analysis of the same dataset reported by one of these unsuccessful groups, the author demonstrates some of the critical flaws inherent in this type of intensity-based analysis.

Synchrotron fibre diffraction identifies and locates foetal collagenous breast tissue associated with breast carcinoma.

Synchrotron fibre diffraction studies of collagenous breast tissue have revealed clear and consistent differences in the diffraction intensity patterns between samples taken from patients with breast carcinoma and those taken from controls. These changes, prelusive to carcinoma, are related to changes in and breakdown of the molecular structure of the collagen type IV support collagen adjacent to the type I, type III and type V collagen fibrils. In order to locate the positions and sequence of the different molecular arrangements, multiple samples were taken from a number of patients. The first of these was taken as near to the tumour site as was possible. Subsequent samples were taken at intervals along ducts leading away from the tumour. The results reveal that the collagen distal from the tumour is similar to that of the controls and this was taken as the standard molecular structure of breast tissue. It usually contained some fat. For normal samples taken closer to the tumour site, the wide diffraction ring associated with fat disappears leaving only the fibrillar pattern. Moving closer to the tumour a 'foetal-like tissue' was observed. The tissue immediately adjacent to the tumour was found to have the same molecular structure as that of foetal tissue.