Serum ferritin concentration in early breast cancer

Summary.-The concentration of circulating ferritin was measured in 250 normal adult women and 229 women presenting with early breast cancer. Ferritin concentrations are higher in cancer patients than in normal women. Patients with an initial circulating ferritin concentration above 200,ug/l have a higher tumour recurrence rate during the subsequent 4 years. FERRITIN is the major iron storage protein in tissues and most of the studies reported since its isolation 40 years ago have related to iron metabolism (Harrison et al., 1974). More recently, small amounts have been detected in plasma, and in otherwise healthy subjects the concentration of the circulating protein is related to the amount of reticuloendo-thelial (RE) storage iron in the body (Jacobs and Worwood, 1975). Elevated levels have been reported in leukaemia and Hodgkin's disease (Jones et al., 1973) and, in the case of acute leukaemia, this is associated with increased synthesis and high concentrations in the malignant cells (Worwood et al., 1974; White et al., 1974). The analysis of normal tissue ferritin by isoelectric focusing has re-vealed considerable heterogeneit