Hair zinc and copper concentrations and zinc: copper ratios in pediatric malignancies and healthy children from southeastern Turkey.

Twenty-eight healthy and forty-six children with malignancy admitted to the Pediatrics Oncology Clinic and Outpatient Clinic of Dicle University, Medical Faculty, Department of Pediatrics in 1989-1990 were included into this study. The children under investigation were divided into three groups. Group 1 consisted of 28 healthy children. Twenty-eight children with newly diagnosed malignant disease, before the start of treatment, formed Group 2. Group 3 consisted of eight of these 28 children together with 18 other children with malignancy in complete remission. 1. Mean hair zinc and copper levels, and zinc/copper values for Group 2 were found to be 100.7 +/- 6.8 micrograms/g, 11.0 +/- 0.8 micrograms/g, and 10.0 +/- 0.8, respectively. 2. The corresponding values for Group 3 were obtained as 143.5 +/- 6.3 micrograms/g, 7.6 +/- 0.4 micrograms/g, and 20.2 +/- 1.4. 3. The values for Group 1 were 142.6 +/- 4.5 micrograms/g, 8.4 +/- 0.5 micrograms/g, and 19.0 +/- 1.4, respectively. 4. The differences between control-active-phase and active-phase-remission groups were statistically significant (p < 0.01), whereas almost the same values were obtained for the control and remission groups (p > 0.05). These results were valid in cases where the comparisons of these three groups were performed also for the subgroups. It was shown that hair zinc and copper levels and zinc/copper values are useful parameters for the diagnosis and treatment of the children with malignancy because of the fact that hair reflects the integrated trace element concentrations of the body, not the present one.