Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Clinical evaluation of serum ferritin to iron ratio in malignant diseases

  • Published:
European Journal of Nuclear Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Serum ferritin levels were measured in 72 normal subjects and in 214 cases with various diseases by an immunoradiometric assay. In normal subjects, the serum ferritin levels were 27–230 ng/ml. Elevated serum ferritins were observed in most cases with iron excess and acute hepatitis. Markedly elevated levels were found in the majority of cases with acute leukemia, malignant lymphoma, hepatoma, and pancreatic cancer. High ferritin levels were also found in other malignant diseases. However, the range cverlapped broadly with that of nonmalignant diseases. The serum ferritin correlated significantly with serum iron in normals and in those with iron deficiency anemia. In most nonmalignant cases, the serum ferritin and iron levels distributed on a regression line obtained from levels in normals and those with iron deficiency anemia. However, 92% of the malignant cases showed a serum ferritin to iron ratio higher than that of normal subjects. The estimation of the serum ferritin to iron ratio is a useful means for screening patients or in the differential diagnosis of a suspected malignant lesion.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Addison GM, Beamish MR, Hales CN, Hodgkins M, Jacobs A, Llewellin P (1972) An Immunoradiometric assay for ferritin in the serum of normal subjects and patients with iron deficiency and iron overload. J Clin Pathol 25:326–328

    Google Scholar 

  2. Adelman TG, Drysdale JW (1977) Synthesis of ferritin subunits by free and membrane bound ribosomes. In: Brown EB, Fielding J, Crichtron RR (eds) Proteins of iron metabolism. Grune & Stratton, New York pp 49–65

    Google Scholar 

  3. Alpert E (1975) Characterization and subunit analysis of ferritin isolated from normal and malignant human liver. Cancer Res. 35:1505–1509

    Google Scholar 

  4. Alpert E, Coston RL (1973) Carcino-foetal human liver ferritins. Nature 242:194–196

    Google Scholar 

  5. Arosio P, Yokota M, Drysdale JW (1976) Structural and immunological relationships of isoferritins in normal and malignant cells. Cancer Res 36:1735–1739

    Google Scholar 

  6. Halliday JW, Gera KL, Powell LW (1975) Solid phase radioimmunoassay for serum ferritin. Clin Chim Acta 58:207–214

    Google Scholar 

  7. Hazard JT, Drysdale JW (1977) Ferritinemia in cancer. Nature 265:755–756

    Google Scholar 

  8. Hazard JT, Yokota M, Arosio P, Drysdale JW (1977) Immunological differences in human isoferritins: implication for immunologic quantitation of serum ferritin. Blood 49:139–146

    Google Scholar 

  9. Jacobs A, Miller F, Worwood M, Beamish MR, Wardrop CA (1972) Ferritin in the serum of normal subjects and patients with iron deficiency and iron overload. Br Med J 4:206–208

    Google Scholar 

  10. Jones PAE, Miller FM, Worwood M, Jacobs A (1973) Ferritinemia in leukemia and hodgkin's disease. Br J Cancer 27:212–217

    Google Scholar 

  11. Kew MC, Torrance JD, Derman D, Simon M, Macnab GM, Charlton RW, Bothwell TH (1978) Serum and tumor ferritins in primary liver cancer. Gut 19:294–299

    Google Scholar 

  12. Letsky EAF, Miller F, Worwood M, Flyn DM (1974) Serum ferritin in children with thalassemia regularly transfused. J Clin Pathol 27:652–655

    Google Scholar 

  13. Linder-Horowitz M, Ruettinger RT, Munro HN (1969) Iron induction of electrophoretically different ferritins in rat livers, heart and kidney. Biochim Biophys Acta 200:442–448

    Google Scholar 

  14. Lipschitz DA, Cook JD, Finch CA (1974) A clinical evaluation of serum ferritin as an index of iron stores. N Engl J Med 209:1213–1216

    Google Scholar 

  15. Marcus DM, Zinberg N (1974) Isolation of ferritin from human mammary and pancreatic carcinomas by means of antibody immunoabsorbents. Arch Biochem Biophys 162:493–501

    Google Scholar 

  16. Marcus DM, Zinerg N (1975) Measurement of serum ferritin by radioimmunoassay: results in normal individuals and patients with breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 55:791–795

    Google Scholar 

  17. Miles LE, Lipschitz DA, Bieber CP, Cook JD (1974) Measurement of serum ferritin by a 2-site immunoradiometric assay. Anal Biochem 61:209–224

    Google Scholar 

  18. Munro HN, Linder MC (1978) Ferritin: structure, biosynthesis, and role in iron metabolism. Physiol Rev 58:317–396

    Google Scholar 

  19. Neville AM, Laurence DJ (1974) Report of the workshop on the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA): the present position and proposals for future investigation. Int J Cancer 14:1–18

    Google Scholar 

  20. Niitsu Y, Kohgo Y, Yokota M, Urushizaki I (1975) Radioimunoassay of serum ferritin in patients with malignancy. Ann NY Acad Sci 259:450–452

    Google Scholar 

  21. Parry DH, Worwood M, Jacobs A (1965) Serum ferritin in acute leukemia at presentation and during remission. Br Med J 1:245–247

    Google Scholar 

  22. Prieto J, Barry M, Sherlock S (1975) Serum ferritin in patients with iron overload and with acute and chronic liver diseases. Gastroenterology 68:525–533

    Google Scholar 

  23. Walters GO, Miller FM, Worwood M (1973) Serum ferritin concentration and iron stores in normal subjects. J Clin Pathol 26:770–772

    Google Scholar 

  24. Worwood M, Summers M, Miller F, Jacobs A, Whittaker JA (1974) Ferritin in blood cells from normal subjects and patients with leukemia. Br J Hematol 28:27–35

    Google Scholar 

  25. Worwood M, Dawkins S, Wagstaff M, Jacobs A (1976) The purification and properties of ferritin from human serum. Biochem J 157:97–103

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Nuclear Medicine and Radiology, University Hospital, Kyoto University, 606, Kyoto, Japan

    Rikushi Morita M.D., Masao Yoshii, Kotoko Nakajima, Tadako Kohsaka, Masahiro Miki & Kanji Torizuka

Authors
  1. Rikushi Morita M.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Masao Yoshii
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kotoko Nakajima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Tadako Kohsaka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Masahiro Miki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Kanji Torizuka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Morita, R., Yoshii, M., Nakajima, K. et al. Clinical evaluation of serum ferritin to iron ratio in malignant diseases. Eur J Nucl Med 6, 331–336 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00262528

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00262528

Keywords

Search

Navigation