Alteration of iron metabolism during androgen therapy of advanced breast cancer

✍ Scribed by B. J. Kennedy; Mary Lowman

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1966
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 675 KB
• Volume: 19
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0008-543X
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-0142(196609)19:9<1205::aid-cncr2820190905>3.0.co;2-v

✦ Synopsis

Alterations in iron metabolism were studied in 38 postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer prior to and during androgenic hormone therapy. A comparison was made between those patients with a serum iron greater than 50 &I00 ml and those below this value and 12 normal postmenopausal women. The rate of removal of radioiron was more rapid in the patients with cancer than in the normals despite the level of the serum iron. The amount of plasma iron cleared during 24 hours was the same in the normals and in all of the breast cancer patients; however, the amount of iron cleared was greater in the cancer patients with normal serum iron than in the normal patients. Administration of massive doses of androgenic hormone resulted in a stimulation of erythropoiesis and a significant increase in hemoglobin values occasionally to polycythemic levels. The rate of removal of radioiron decreased when measured at intervals of 2 to 5 months after the onset of androgen therapy and was further decreased when androgen therapy was continued beyond 5 months. There