Elevated serum ferritin in children with malignancies.

Serum ferritin (SF) is elevated in adults with malignancies, chronic inflammatory disease, liver disease and iron overload. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the concentration of SF in children with a variety of malignancies correlated with the activity of their disease. Patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) at initial diagnosis (n = 11) and relapse (n = 15) had a mean SF of 238 and 338 ng/ml, respectively, compared to the normal mean of 31 ng/ml and range of 7 to 140 ng/ml in children. In 30 patients with ALL in remission the mean SF was 109 ng/ml, less than the values in patients with active disease and greater than the normal mean (P less than 0.001). The concentration of SF was also increased in a group of 77 patients with a variety of solid tumors. The 28 cases with active disease had a mean SF of 242 ng/ml, significantly higher (P less than 0.001) that the value of 84 ng/ml in 49 patients with no evidence of residual tumor. The differences in SF concentration did reflect the activity of disease in the groups as a whole but it remains uncertain whether the assay will prove useful in following the response to treatment of patients with certain types of tumor.