Title:Concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in Blood Serum of Cancer Patients and Comparison with Healthy Person by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry
VOLUME: 13 ISSUE: 5
Author(s):M. Hafsa, Kousar Yasmeen*, Faheem Shah*, Sajid Jahangir, Atta-ur-Rahman and Aiman Manzar
Affiliation:Department of Chemistry, Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Campus, Karachi-75300, Department of Chemistry, Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Campus, Karachi-75300, Department of Chemistry, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad-22060, Department of Chemistry, Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Campus, Karachi-75300, Department of Chemistry, Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Campus, Karachi-75300, Department of Chemistry, Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Campus, Karachi-75300
Keywords:Blood, cancer patients, correlation, GFAAS, heavy metals, atomic absorption spectrometry.
Abstract:Background: Cancer medically, is a group of wide range of several diseases which are related
with uncontrolled growth process of cells. A cross-sectional study was carried out to assess the
concentration of cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) in blood serum samples of cancer
patients in comparison with healthy/control subjects.
Methods: A total of sixty subjects (30 cancer patients and 30 healthy subjects) were selected for this
study from different hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan. Whole blood samples collected, digested and analyzed
through graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) for elemental analysis.
Results: The results showed that the concentrations of these metals in blood serum of cancer patients
were higher than healthy subjects. The mean concentration of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn were 2.12, 1237.03,
1.87, 1084.74 µg/L respectively. The statistical data obtained was correlated to find the possible interaction
between different metals. A negative correlation was observed between Pb/Zn (r = -0.521) in cancer
and Cu/Zn (r= -0.431) in healthy individuals.
Conclusion: The trend of metals in blood samples of cancer’s patients are as follows: Cu > Zn > Pb >
Cd and in healthy individuals are: Zn > Cu > Pb > Cd. The statistical data reveals that there are significant
differences found in between healthy and cancers individuals. Regular monitoring study should be
carried out to create awareness on metal toxicity.
