Zinc and acid phosphatase in the human prostate

Abstract

I'YONL) its importance ;ts the prostlietic B metal in carbonic anhydrase, little is known of the biological function of zinc. Recently, Mawson and Fischer showed that the tlorsolateral prostate of the rat contains more zinc per unit weight than m y other rat tissue examined, and, after Addink's suggestion that the liver and blood of cancer patients may show a raised concentration of zinc, they invcstigated the possible correlation between prostatic cancer and zinc content. Their results suggested: (1) that glands containing cancer tissue showed decreased zinc content; and (2) that a high zinc content was associated with a high proportion of organised secretory tissue. As these workers point out, however, they did not have easy access to suitable material and it was not always possible for them to conduct histological and chemical investigations on adjacent pieces of tissue.