Abstract
Lung cancer (LC) is the number one cancer killer of women both in the USA and around the world. Besides cigarette smoking, an important feature in the etiology of LC is its strong association with exposure of toxic metals. The primary objective of the present investigation was to assess the concentrations of toxic/essential elements (Ni, Ca, Se, Zn, Co, K, Cr, As, Cu, Na, Fe, Hg, Cd, Mg, Mn, and Pb) in the serum samples of LC female patients with female controls by atomic absorption spectrometry after wet-acid digestion procedure. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) was also measured in the serum of the patients using immunoradiometric method. Comparative appraisal of the data revealed that concentrations of Cr, Mg, Cd, Pb, Hg, As, and Ni were noted to be high significantly in serum of LC female patients, while the average Fe, Co, Mn, Na, K, Zn, Ca, and Se were observed at higher levels in female controls (p < 0.05). The correlation study revealed significantly different mutual associations among the elements in the both donor groups. Markedly, variations in the elemental levels were also noted for different types (non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer) and stages (I, II, III, & IV) of LC patients. Multivariate analyses showed substantially diverse apportionment of the metals in the female patients and female controls. Hence, present findings suggest that the toxic and essential metals accumulated in the body may pose a high risk for LC progression in Pakistani females.