1006 



adventuk.es in radioisotope research 



which reached in the time unit the bone marrow of the neoplastic subject 

 was in many cases not larger than in normals. In Fig. 7 the plasma iron 

 concentration as a function of plasma s^Fe T.^^ is plotted. When drawing 

 this figure, for the sake of simplicity, the difference in the plasma volume 



100 



a 



Q. 



Fig. 5. 



Normal 

 Range 



J 



Time in min 



Fig. 6. — Rate of disappearance of labelled plasma iron from the cir- 

 culation of patients suffering from cancer of the uterine cervix. 



of the women investigated was disregarded. The mean value of the latter 

 was 2580 ml. M = ± 456. In a healthy subject we can expect at a nor- 

 mal iron level a normal Fe turnover and if the plasma iron content is 

 depressed, a correspondingly increased rate of exodus of plasma iron 

 and vice versa. Twelve of the patients show this correlation. As 7 of 

 these were anaemic, in these cancer patients a fractional iron turnover 

 in normal range is thus not sufficient to prevent anaemia, probably due 

 to a shortened life-cycle of their red corpuscles which requires an addi- 

 tional iron turnover. In 5 other cases the fractional iron turnover rate 



