Abstract
Atomic absorption spectrophotometry was employed to measure zinc and cooper in serum and zinc in tissue of 81 patients with lung cancer, 4 thymoma patients, and 14 cases of lung metastasis, and results were compared with 21 normal individuals.
1) The value of zinc in serum of normal individuals was 1.33±0.37mcg/ml while that of lung cancer cases was 0.86±0.22mcg/ml, which showed a statistically significant decrease in the latter. In other categories, the value was inclined to be lower than that of normal individuals.
2) There was no correlation between clinical stage and the decrease of serum zinc value.
3) The value of serum zinc was not related to that of serum copper.
4) In lung cancer cases the value of zinc in lung cancer tissue was higher than in normal lung tissue.
From the above-mentioned results, the tranference of serum zinc to cancer tissue was considered to be one reason for the decrease of serum zinc value, thus it may be possible to control tumor development by regulating zinc in serum.
