17 citations,
June 2001 in “Journal of the National Cancer Institute” A specific hair diffraction pattern may indicate breast cancer if tested with the correct method.
23 citations,
October 2007 in “International journal of cancer” X-ray diffraction of hair might help detect breast cancer non-invasively.
9 citations,
April 2019 in “Journal of structural biology” Hair's internal fibers are arranged in a pattern that doesn't let much water in, and treatments like oils and heat change how much water hair can absorb.
6 citations,
January 2012 in “Breast cancer” Breast cancer may be detectable through changes in scalp hair lipids.
42 citations,
January 2005 in “Applied spectroscopy” 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.