Evaluation of zinc and cadmium levels in the biological samples of Ewing sarcomas patients and healthy subjects.

Abstract Background Ewing’s sarcoma is a very rare type of cancerous tumor that grows in bones or the soft tissue around the bones, such as cartilage or the nerves. It frequently affects the people at the age of 10 to 20 years and has elevated rate of being cured. Methods Assessment of essential trace [zinc (Zn)] and toxic [cadmium (Cd)] elements in biological samples (scalp hair and blood) of Ewing sarcoma patients (n = 87 age ranging 07–19 years) residents of various cities of Pakistan was done. For comparative study, the biological samples of age matched healthy (referent) subjects (n = 62) were also analyzed for selected metals. The matrices of biological samples was oxidized with the help of HNO3 (65%) and H2O2 (30%) mixture at the ratio of 2:1 with the aid of microwave oven. The oxidized biological samples were subjected to atomic absorption spectrometry for their determination. Result The Zn contents in the scalp hair and blood samples of different types of Ewing sarcoma patients were found to be lower, in the range of (45.9–141.2 µg/g) and (0.65–3.12 mg/l), respectively than the biological samples of referent subjects (246–265 µg/g) and (6.40–7.25 mg/l), respectively. Whilst, the Cd concentrations in the scalp hair and blood samples of different types of Ewing sarcoma patients were found to be higher, in the range of (2.70–5.60 µg/g) and (2.46–5.64 µg/l), respectively than the biological samples of controls (1.49–1.79 µg/g) and (1.52–1.90 µg/l), respectively. The biochemical parameters including hemoglobin% and RBC counts were significantly lower in patients than referents (p  Conclusion The resulted data will be helpful to treat patients of Ewing sarcoma with mineral supplement contains essential trace element (Zn) in recommended dose to further increase their survival rate.