Use of the Serum Copper/Zinc Ratio in the Differential Diagnosis of Ovarian

We measured copper and zinc in serum (n = 82) and tumor tissue (n = 41) from women with a palpable pelvic mass, admitted for suspected ovarian tumor. In serum, copper was increased and zinc decreased in the group (n = 40) subse-quently proven to have a malignant ovarian tumor. The mean copper/zinc ratio in this group was 2.30 (SD 0.41), signifi-cantly (p <0.001) higher than for the benign group (n = 42), 1.43 (SD 0.22). In tumor tissue the concentrations of copper and zinc followed the same pattern, the copper/zinc ratio being significantly (p <0.001) higher in the malignant (0.158, SD 0.065) tumors than in the benign tissue (0.093, SD 0.04). We conclude that the Cu/Zn ratio in serum reliably (specifi-cally) indicates the presence of advanced ovarian malignant tumor. The decreased concentrations of zinc and the in-creased concentrations of copper in serum do not seem t