Mapping fundamental life elements in papillary thyroid carcinoma tissue

Well-differentiated papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs) are the most common type of thyroid cancer. Thyroid function depends on the presence of certain trace elements necessary for both the synthesis and the metabolism of thyroid hormones. We conducted an observational translational study on formalin fixed paraffin embedded thyroid tissue slices collected from five patients who underwent surgical resection of thyroid gland after thyroid cancer diagnosis. A synchrotron-based XRF set up was used to map the distribution of oxygen, sodium, aluminum, selenium and magnesium in PTC sections. These experiments were performed at the TwinMic beamline (Elettra - Sincrotrone Trieste, Trieste, Italy). Our results show that Mg levels in PTC tissues are significantly higher than in the control ones. The results seem to provide highly valuable information suggesting that Mg may play a role in the development and metabolic process of PTC.