NON-TRANSFERRIN BOUND IRON AND NEUTROPENIA AFTER CYTOTOXIC CHEMOTHERAPY

Aims-To investigate and characterise the appearance of non-transferrin bound iron (NTBI) in the serum of patients after cytotoxic chemothera py and to compare this with the onset and duration of neutropenia. Met hod-Non-transferrin bound iron was measured by a bleomycin assay in pa tients undergoing intensive chemotherapy for treatment of acute leukae mia or lymphoma. Results-NTBI was detected after 26 of 27 courses of c hemotherapy and lasted for a mean of 14.5 days. The presence of NTBI c orrelated with the serum iron binding saturation, but not with serum f erritin. Neutropenia occurred after all courses of chemotherapy and la sted for a mean of 20.0 days. NTBI and neutropenia occurred concurrent ly after 23 courses of chemotherapy, and had a mean joint duration of 9.5 days. Conclusions-NTBI is consistently present in the serum of pat ients after cytotoxic chemotherapy, often at the same time as the pati ent is neutropenic. This may be an additional risk factor for the deve lopment of infective episodes after chemotherapy.