X-ray diffraction imaging of glioblastoma and ductal carcinoma in-situ

Specimen radiography is critical to cancer diagnostics, but conventional transmission X-ray imaging often lacks the contrast to conclusively differentiate healthy from cancerous tissue. X-ray diffraction (XRD), however, has been shown to be sensitive to structural changes in tissue that are correlated with cancer progression. We use a home-built XRD imaging system to study glioblastoma in brain tissue and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in breast tissue, and identify both commonalities and unique aspects of cancer structural changes in the brain and breast. These findings demonstrate the potential for XRD imaging as a new tool for use in both research and diagnostic medicine.