Dolomite mineralization and crystal structure: Implications for breast and thyroid microcalcifications and disease progression

Microcalcifications (MCs), a key feature of breast and thyroid cancer, are calcium deposits that vary in composition. We recently showed in a retrospective study that calcium carbonate is a major component of MCs found in breast precancerous lesions. For the first time, we identified dolomite [CaMg(CO₃)₂] MCs, which were linked to higher malignancy potential and likely formed due to chemical fluctuations in the tumor microenvironment. We aim to investigate the existence of distinct dolomite types in tumor lesions and their association with specific biological microenvironments. Following our recent µXRD and µXRF mapping experiments at beamline ID13 on breast tissues from three patients, we now propose to obtain a broader dataset, incorporating breast and thyroid samples, to further investigate the role of MCs, particularly dolomite, in tumor progression.