Umeå University's logo

Psammoma Bodies (PBs) are concentric calcined structures. The formation of PBs begins during the initial stages of carcinogenesis, which is an important feature for the diagnostics of serous ovarian carcinoma. The aim of our work was to study the nanocrystalline structure of PBs of serous ovarian carcinoma for practical use in diagnostics. According to the size, these structures were divided into 3 groups: large - more than 200μm, medium - 71-199μm, and small - up to 70μm. The structure of PBs was represented by lamellae and interlamellar layers. The mean thickness of the lamellae was 0.65 ± 0.02μm, and the thickness of the inter-lamellar layers was 3.7 ± 0.17μm. A strong correlation between the thickness of the interlamellar layer and the size of PBs was found for all groups of calcifications. It has been found that PBs consisted of hydroxyapatite and contained proteins. Therefore, based on the nanocrystalline structure and morphometric characteristics of PBs, this pattern can be used in practice for the early diagnosis of serous ovarian cancer.