report12 it was suggested I that there was an increased zinc concentration in the uninvolved portions of liver containing cancerous implants that was not found in the liver of patients dying of noncancerous disease. Koch et a1.lO and Tipton et a1.l8, 17 have since reported several trace element concentrations in normal tissues obtained shortly after traumatic deaths, and Koch et al.9 have reported findings in the viscera of a small group of patients dying of lymphomatous disease and have thoroughly reviewed the findings of others on this subject. It is the purpose of this report to compare the concentrations of 5 elements, namely, iron, zinc, copper, molybdenum, and manganese, in the livers of 29 patients dying of noncancerous disease, 19 patients dying of cancer with liver metastasis, and 9 patients dying of cancer without liver metastasis.
Methods
Patients were selected at random who had come to autopsy at the Albany Hospital, Albany, N.Y. Tissue was obtained as soon after death as possible, and in the event of delay between death and postmortem examination the bodies were stored at refrigerator temperature.
Cases with extensive infections or with gross autolysis of tissue were excluded. Liver with cancer metastasis was accepted only if the