Cadmium and zinc abnormalities in bronchogenic carcinoma

Abstract

During a study of renal cadmium content in hypertension, it was coincidentally observed that renal cadmium was elevated in persons with neoplasia. Therefore, a detailed study was made of cadmium concentration in renal and hepatic tissue and blood of persons with bronchogenic carcinoma. Cadmium was significantly increased in all 3 tissues in bronchogenic cancer. Because of the close relationship between zinc and cadmium in nature, zinc concentrations were also measured. Zinc levels were not significantly different in liver, tended to be high in kidney, and were significantly lower in blood. Similar changes in cadmium concentration were not seen in a group of other neoplastic diseases. The significance of these observations is not clear.