Determination of the trace elements zinc, copper, nickel and chromium in bone marrow and plasma of patients with non-Hodgkin lymphomas.

The concentrations of zinc, copper, nickel and chromium were determined in bone marrow and plasma of 37 patients suffering from non-Hodgkin-lymphomas (NHL). The results were compared with a control group of 10 patients with negative histopathologic results in bone marrow. The results demonstrate that all patients with low grade and high grade NHL have elevated trace element levels in bone marrow compared to the control group. In plasma there are also differences in the trace element levels of patients with NHL compared to the control group; the levels, however, are partly higher and lower than those of the control group. Altogether the plasma level differences are not as noticeable as those in the bone marrow. At the moment it is not yet possible to draw final conclusions from these results for the prognosis or therapy of NHL, but the study tends to show that intracellular measurement of trace elements is more reliable than intraplasmic measurement.