Biomineralogical signatures of breast microcalcifications
Name
sciadv.ade3152.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
3.14 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
a435bdc651aff25489d780c52364dae6
Author(s)
Kunitake, Jennie AMR
Sudilovsky, Daniel
Johnson, Lynn M
Loh, Hyun-Chae
Choi, Siyoung
Morris, Patrick G
Jochelson, Maxine S
Iyengar, Neil M
Morrow, Monica
Masic, Admir
Date Issued
February 22, 2023
Journal
Science Advances
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Citation
Kunitake, Jennie AMR, Sudilovsky, Daniel, Johnson, Lynn M, Loh, Hyun-Chae, Choi, Siyoung et al. 2023. "Biomineralogical signatures of breast microcalcifications." Science Advances, 9 (8).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Microcalcifications, primarily biogenic apatite, occur in cancerous and benign breast pathologies and are key mammographic indicators. Outside the clinic, numerous microcalcification compositional metrics (e.g., carbonate and metal content) are linked to malignancy, yet microcalcification formation is dependent on microenvironmental conditions, which are notoriously heterogeneous in breast cancer. We interrogate multiscale heterogeneity in 93 calcifications from 21 breast cancer patients using an omics-inspired approach: For each microcalcification, we define a “biomineralogical signature” combining metrics derived from Raman microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy. We observe that (i) calcifications cluster into physiologically relevant groups reflecting tissue type and local malignancy; (ii) carbonate content exhibits substantial intratumor heterogeneity; (iii) trace metals including zinc, iron, and aluminum are enhanced in malignant-localized calcifications; and (iv) the lipid-to-protein ratio within calcifications is lower in patients with poor composite outcome, suggesting that there is potential clinical value in expanding research on calcification diagnostic metrics to include “mineral-entrapped” organic matrix.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ade3152
