As the number of new breast cancer cases grows around the world, there is an unmet need for fast, accurate, and low-cost methods of early cancer detection. It was previously shown that X-ray scattering on lipid molecules can provide the necessary structural biomarker. However, these measurements were performed on small ex vivo samples, and to ensure the progress to in vivo diagnostics, the approach should be extended to larger tissues. We use the phantom fat samples to establish such a procedure. In the obtained X-ray scattering patterns, we observe the characteristic features for the inter-fatty-acid molecular distance. The large size of the samples led to the peak broadening; however, the features remain visible up to 10 cm in thickness. The experimental data are in excellent agreement with the Monte Carlo simulations based on the form factors obtained from the small samples. Our results usher the way for the in vivo monitoring of the structural biomarkers of breast cancer.

As the number of new breast cancer cases grows around the world, there is an unmet need for fast, accurate, and low-cost methods of early cancer detection. It was previously shown that X-ray diffraction on lipid molecules can provide the necessary structural biomarker. However, these measurements were performed on small ex-vivo samples, and to ensure the progress to in-vivo diagnostics, the approach should be extended to larger tissues. We use the phantom fat samples to establish such a procedure. In the obtained X-ray diffraction patterns, we observe the characteristic features for the inter-fatty-acid molecular distance. The large size of the samples led to the peak broadening, but the features remain visible up to 10 centimeters in thickness. The experimental data is in excellent agreement with the Monte-Carlo simulations based on the form factors obtained from the small samples. Our results usher the way for in-vivo monitoring of structural biomarkers of breast cancer.

Structural biomarkers determined by X-ray scattering of the tissues can complement conventional diagnostics and provide a pathway for early detection of diseases. In the present study, mouse models were utilized to observe the progress of prostate cancer. We induced cancer in the left lobe of the mouse prostate, whilst the right lobe was left uninoculated. The mice were sacrificed at several time points (Days 2, 4, 7, and 16 after inoculation), and the lobes were analyzed using X-ray scattering. Control samples were also collected from healthy mice sacrificed at the same time points. This investigation revealed that the ratio between the X-ray scattering peaks associated with the lipids and water can serve as a structural biomarker of cancer, and this biomarker develops as the tumor advances. The obtained cancer trajectory can serve as a baseline for the determination of the disease stage, and the biomarker movement along the trajectory can be evidence of the healing or disease progression.