Serum ferritin as a clinical marker for renal cell carcinoma: Influence of tumor volume , size and metastasis

Currently there exists no established tumor marker for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) Ferritin was shown to be expressed by the tumor, and proposed as a tumor marker for RCC The aim of this study is to assess the relation between ferritin levels and tumor volume,size and prognosis in RCC. We studied ferritin levels in serum from peripheral and renal veins from 52 patients with RCC who underwent surgery Ferritin levels were measured by an enzyme immunoassay method. Tumor volume and the largest tumor diameter were calculated from the pathologic specimens. The mean serum ferritin levels from the renal vein (RVF) was statistically higher than the ferritin levels from the peripheral vein (PVF) (p = 0 028).Although mean RVF levels increased with increasing stage, it was not significant (p = 0.216) While there was a correlation with tumor size, volume and RVF , PVF was in correlation with disease status PVF in metastatic patients was higher than the patients with local or locally advanced disease (p=0.051) The initial RVF and PVF levels were predictive of survival (p= 0.028 and p= 0.034 respectively). Higher levels in the renal vein , its positive correlation with tumor size and volume suggests that ferritin is expressed by RCC Initial peripheral serum values of ferritin can be indicative of disease status and also be a prognosticator of survival