Evaluation of Serum Ferritin Levels in Brain Tumors

Abstract

Currently, brain tumors are diagnosed based on clinical suspicion and neuroimaging results. Histological analysis is the only method that certifies the diagnosis and establishes the prognosis. A number of studies suggest that perturbed iron metabolism and increased ferritin levels are part of the changes associated with tumorigenesis. Our study’s aim is to evaluate serum ferritin levels in a series of patients and establish if this protein could play a role in brain cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Our lot is comprised of 267 patients with various types of brain tumors. We registered higher mean ferritin levels when compared to the general population. According to tumor histology, higher levels were found in cerebral metastases patients, and the differences were statistically significant. According to tumor grading, we found higher ferritin levels in grade II tumors, with statistically significant differences when compared to grade I and grade IV tumors. It remains an open question if high ferritin levels are a hallmark for cerebral metastases or just an expression of systemic dissemination. Also, a possible role for ferritin as a biomarker in grade II brain tumors may be established by further studies.