[Ferritin study in tumors of the female genitalia]

Ferritin levels in extracts of tumor tissue and serum of patients with gynecological malignancies were assayed by immunodiffusion methods using a standard system of testing for ferritin. A high blood-ferritin level (500-1,000 ng/ml) was found in 8 out 21 patients with ovarian cancer, 8 out of 24 patients with endometrial carcinoma. 2 out of 8 cases of mucinous cystadenoma and in 2 out of 4 cases of pyoovarium. It was lower in other malignancies of the female genital tract. There was no correlation between the ferritin level of blood serum and that of tumor tissue extracts. Although blood serum ferritin was found in very few healthy subjects (2.5%), it is suggested that blood-ferritin level test should be carried out in the course of examination of slowly-progressing purulent adnexitis and mass screening for tumors of female genitals.