Changes of serum transferrin and ceruloplasmin after radiation therapy in women with cervical or uterine carcinoma

Serum transferrin and ceruloplasmin were measured in 27 healthy women as well as in 21 women who received fractionated radiation therapy (RT) after undergoing surgery for cervical or uterine carcinoma. Although no significant difference in the mean values of transferrin was found between the healthy women and the patients before the initiation of RT, a significantly lower concentration of transferrin after the end of RT (p < 0.001) was observed in comparison to that of controls and of patients before RT. On the contrary, a significantly higher serum concentration of ceruloplasmin was found in patients before and after RT compared to that in healthy women (p < 0.001). The observed increase of ceruloplasmin after RT was not found to be significantly different from the mean value before RT. In conclusion serum transferrin is reduced by RT, while ceruloplasmin which is higher in patients before RT shows a tendency for increase following RT.