Bleomycin-reactive iron in patients with acute non-lymphocytic leukemia.

Bleomycin-reactive iron was detected in the sera of six out of nine adults undergoing intensive chemotherapy for acute non-lymphocytic leukemia. In these individuals the corresponding transferrin saturation ranged from 96% to 113% and the serum ferritin from 775 to 9975 micrograms/l. Nontransferrin-bound iron has been postulated to be a factor in organ toxicity in iron overload conditions such as beta thalassemia and hereditary hemochromatosis by facilitating the production of tissue-damaging free radicals. We propose that bleomycin-reactive iron should be considered as a possible factor in organ dysfunction seen with intensive cancer chemotherapy.