Quantitative analysis of zinc in prostate cancer tissues using synchrotron radiation microbeams

Metallic elements and their organic compounds have dynamic regulatory functions in cells. The role of zinc and its possible causal effects in prostate cancer has attracted attention in recent years. X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy using a synchrotron radiation (SR) microbeam was applied to cancerous and the normal tissues of the human prostate in order to investigate the differences in the density and distribution of zinc in these tissues. Zinc was detected in both the cancerous and the normal tissues. In the cancerous tissues, the density of zinc was 89–221 ppm in the adenocarcinoma and 44–713 ppm in the stroma. In the normal tissues, zinc was detected at 158–474 ppm in the epithelial cells and 101–180 ppm in the stroma. Calcium and other trace metallic elements were also detected in the cancerous and normal tissues.