Correlation of erythrocyte and plasma levels of zinc, copper, and iron with evidence of metastatic spread in cancer patients

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Abstract
The level of plasma copper (Cu-PI) and zinc (Zn-Pl) and the level of erythrocyte iron (Fe-RBC), copper (Cu-RBC), and zinc (Zn-RBC) were determined in the blood of 70 normal donors and 138 patients with various solid tumors by diagnostic x-ray spectrometry (DXS), a technique based on x-ray fluorescence spectrometry analysis. There were no significant changes in the mean values of Zn-Pl, Fe-RBC, and Cu-RBC in the patients when compared with those of normal donors. The mean level of Cu-PI in the normal donors was 1.34 ± 0.37 μg/ml; it was significantly increased in the patients, ranging between 1.47 ± 0.34 μg/ml for patients without evidence of active cancer (NED) and 1.91 ± 0.76 μg/ml for patients with hepatic metastases. The most significant change observed was an increase in the Zn-RBC found in the patients with clinical evidence of metastatic spread. Whereas the Zn-RBC level in the normal donors was 9.85 ± 1.47 μg/g wet weight, and not significantly elevated in the NED patients, it was elevated to values of 11.37 ± 1.55 μg/g (P < 0.004) for patients with soft tissue and hepatic metastases and was 12.34 ± 1.65 μg/g (P < 0.001) for patients with bone metastases. The data suggest a clear correlation between Zn-RBC and metastatic spread in nonlymphomatous human cancer.