[Ferritin levels in patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma (author's transl)]

This study was designed to investigate the usefulness of serum ferritin determinations for the diagnosis of cervical squamous cell carcinoma. The origin of ferritin in the circulation of these patients was also studied by an in vitro incubation system. Ferritin levels were determined by a radioimmunoassay kit (SPAC kit, Daiichi Radioisotope Lab.). Pretreatment serum ferritin levels were significantly higher (p less than 0.05) in patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma, ovarian carcinoma, hepatitis and anemia than in normal women. All cases with endometrian cancer showed normal ferritin levels. Among patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma, stage IV and recurrence groups showed higher ferritin levels than other stages. In vitro incubation studies revealed that squamous cell carcinoma could release significantly larger amount of ferritin than normal squamous epithelium. In addition, circulating and tissue ferritin of squamous cell carcinoma had the same immunological behavior in a ferritin radioimmunoassay, and also showed the identical localization on isoelectrofocusing gels. These results indicated that (1) circulating ferritin in patients with squamous cell carcinoma would, at least in part, be derived from the tumor tissue, and (2) serum ferritin determinations would be useful for the management of patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma.