The Structure of Nanaocrystalline Apatite From the Breast Cancer

This paper is devoted to the morphology and elemental composition of breast cancer calcification. By histology, it we verified that all 30 selected breast cancer samples had a signs of the biomineralization. These calcified formations had dark blue color, variable size and round and irregular shapes. Von Cossa staining confirmed the presence of calcium phosphate in their composition. We have shown by SEM and TEM that the mineral deposits of breast cancer correspond to calcium phosphate in nanocrystalline calcium apatite. According to TEM, crystalline nanoparticles were polydisperse (of different sizes) with minor size variations (3-20 nm). Nanocrystals of breast cancer calcifications formed the polycrystalline mechanically stable agglomerates with sizes of 100-300 nm. At the same time, there was no signs of recrystallization with a noticeable increase in the size of individual components of these agglomerates.