Fourier Transform Infrared Attenuated Total Reflection Analysis of Human Hair: Comparison of Hair from Breast Cancer Patients with Hair from Healthy Subjects

    January 2005 in “ Applied spectroscopy ”
    Donald J. Lyman, Jacqueline Murray–Wijelath
    TLDR Hair from breast cancer patients shows changes in structure and composition, and a test using these changes detected cancer but also falsely identified some healthy samples as cancerous.
    The study compared Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR) spectra of 32 hair samples from breast cancer patients and healthy individuals, finding increased β-sheet/disorder structures and C–H lipid content in the hair of cancer patients. These changes in hair composition and conformation were consistent with X-ray diffraction patterns. A blind study of 12 additional samples using these spectral markers correctly identified all four cancer patient samples (100%), including two breast cancer cases, and also detected prostate and lung cancer. However, it incorrectly identified three samples from healthy individuals and a cured prostate cancer patient as positive, suggesting a similar mechanism affecting hair fiber synthesis across different cancers.
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