Vr. Gordeuk et al., ASSOCIATIONS OF IRON OVERLOAD IN AFRICA WITH HEPATOCELLULAR-CARCINOMAAND TUBERCULOSIS - STRACHAN 1929 THESIS REVISITED, Blood, 87(8), 1996, pp. 3470-3476
We analyzed data from the first study of iron overload in Africans, co
nducted between 1925 and 1928, to determine whether this common condit
ion is associated with death from hepatocellular carcinoma and/or tube
rculosis. In the original study, necropsies were performed on 714 adul
t blacks from southern Africa. Hepatic and splenic iron levels were me
asured semiquantitatively in 604 subjects and one of five iron grades
was assigned. We examined death from hepatocellular carcinoma or from
tuberculosis and the variables of age, sex, the presence of cirrhosis
or other diagnoses that might be influenced by iron status, and tissue
iron grades. Nineteen percent of men and 16% of women had the highest
grade of hepatic iron. After adjustment for the presence of cirrhosis
, hepatic iron grade was the variable most significantly associated wi
th death from hepatocellular carcinoma (P = .021). The odds of death f
rom hepatocellular carcinoma in subjects with the highest grade of hep
atic iron was 23.5 (95% confidence interval, 2.1 to 225) times the odd
s in subjects with the three lowest grades. Splenic iron was the varia
ble most significantly associated with death from tuberculosis (P < .0
001). The odds of death from tuberculosis with the highest grade of sp
lenic iron was 16.9 (4.8 to 59.9) times the odds with the two lowest g
rades. These findings suggest that iron overload in black Africans may
be a risk factor for death from hepatocellular carcinoma and for deat
h from tuberculosis. (C) 1996 by The American Society of Hematology.