Frontiers of X-ray spectromicroscopy in biology and medicine: Gadolinium in brain cancer

We present the first feasibility test of spectromicroscopy on the microlocalization of gadolinium in brain cancer tissue. A gadolinium compound was injected to the patients before the brain tumor was extracted with surgery, and we looked for Gd in the tumor tissue. The goal of the experiment was to understand if Gd Neutron Capture Therapy (GdNCT) is viable for clinical tests, i.e. if there is enough Gd, and it is localized near the nuclei of tumor cells. The experiments were performed using the MEPHISTO X-ray PhotoElectron Emission Microscope (X-PEEM) at the Wisconsin Synchrotron Radiation Center. The present results demonstrate the feasibility of the experiment, and suggest how to improve the sample preparation and data acquisition to achieve the goal.