Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1987 Jan;2(1):106-11.
doi: 10.3904/kjim.1987.2.1.106.

Ferritin assay in malignant pleural effusion

W T Chung, J H Lee, J G Park, G I Sohn, S K Park, Y K Shin

Ferritin assay in malignant pleural effusion

W T Chung et al. Korean J Intern Med. 1987 Jan.

Abstract

In order to assess the usefulness of ferritin as a tumor marker, the authors measured and analyzed pleural fluid and serum ferritin concentrations by double antibody radioimmunoassay method in 20 patients with malignant pleural effusion, and in 39 patients with benign pleural effusion. Serum ferritin levels were also measured in a control group of 20 healthy people.

The results obtained are summarized as follows:

  1. 1) Pleural fluid ferritin levels in the malignant pleural effusion group were significantly higher (p<0.001) than those of the benign pleural effusion group.

  2. 2) As one of the criteria in differentiating between malignant and benign pleural effusion, the differentiating pleural fluid ferritin level was set at 2,000 ng/ml, a specificity up to 75.0% and sensitivity of 89.7% could be obtained.

  3. 3) Serum ferritin levels in the malignant pleural effusion group were significantly higher (p<0.001) than those in the control group.

  4. 4) There was no statistically significant correlation between pleural fluid and serum ferritin levels in the malignant pleural effusion group.

From the above results, it can be concluded that it is possible to use pleural fluid ferritin levels as a tumor marker.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Levels of pleural fluid ferritin in patients with malignant and benign pleural effusion.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Comparison of serum ferritin levels in normal control group & patients with benign & malignant pleural effusion.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Relationship between pleural fluid & serum ferritin in patients with malignant pleural effusion.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Jacobs A, Worwood M. Ferritin in serum: clinical and biochemical implications. N Engl J Med. 1975;292:951. - PubMed
    1. Jacobs A, Miller F, Worwood M, Beamish MR, Wardrop CA. Ferritin in the serum of normal subjects and patients with iron deficiency and iron overload. Br med J. 1972;28:206. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jacobs A. Serum ferritin and iron stores. Federation procedings. 1977;36:2024. - PubMed
    1. Lipschitz DA, Cook JD, Finch CA. A clinical evaluation of serum ferritin as an index or iron stores. N Engl J Med. 1974;290:1213. - PubMed
    1. Kim BK, Chang YB, Cho BY, Lee HK, Koh CS, Lee MH. Studies on the serum ferritin assay as an evaluation of storage iron. Kor J Intern Med. 1982;24:2.