Serum copper and ceruloplasmin levels in patients with neoplasias localized in the stomach, large intestine or lung

Abstract

Serum copper and ceruloplasmin levels were determined in patients with solid neoplasias in different sites (stomach, large intestine, lung). Statistical analysis showed that serum copper levels increased significantly in all the forms studied. The serum ceruloplasmin level, on the contrary, was high in gastric and pulmonary cancer, while in tumors localised in the large intestine the increase was not significant. In 58 cases, there was a correlation between copper and ceruloplasmin levels in the same subject; this correlation proved significant solely in gastric forms. Moreover, statistical analysis of the two parameters in question did not reveal any significant differences between localized and metastasized in forms.