Variations in the concentrations of Cu and Zn and in the ratio of Cu to Zn in whole blood and hair samples from hepatocellular carcinoma patients and from healthy controls in Taiwan

An atomic absorption spectrophotometer was used to determine concentrations of copper and zinc and the ratio of Cu to Zn in samples of whole blood and hair from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients (n=51) and from healthy controls (n=50) in Taiwan. Our results indicate that the HCC patients have higher copper concentrations and higher ratios of Cu to Zn than do the healthy controls both in whole blood and hair samples, but only the concentration of copper and the ratio of Cu to Zn in whole blood were significantly different (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05). Conversely, a lower concentration of zinc was found in whole blood and hair samples of HCC patients. Similarly, only the concentration of zinc in whole blood showed a significant difference (p < 0.001). We concluded that the whole blood concentrations of copper and zinc and the ratio of Cu to Zn seemed to have a higher correlation with HCC. Thus, we suggest that a sample of whole blood may be a more suitable diagnostic sample than is a hair sample for HCC.