Objective To explore the relationship between the level of serum ferritin (SF) and liver damage in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Methods The concentration of serum ferritin of 98 patients with CHB from July to October 2014 was measured, and then correlation analysis was performed to analyze the correlation between SF and such indexes as serum tumor marker α-fetoprotein, biochemical markers [alanine amino transferase (ALT), aspartate amino transferase (AST), total protein (TP), albumin and total bilirubin (TBIL)], and hepatitis B serum markers (hepatitis B surface antigen, hepatitis B surface antibody, hepatitis B e antigen, hepatitis B e antibody, and hepatitis B core antigen). Serum hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV-DNA) viral load was also tested, and then the discrepancy of SF levels in the high and low viral load groups was analyzed. Results The average concentration of the abnormally elevated SF was (878.69±837.98) ng/mL. The SF mean difference between low-load HBV-DNA and high-load HBV-DNA was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Serum ferritin levels were independently and positively correlated with ALT, AST, and TBIL (P < 0.01) and inversely correlated with TP and albumin (P < 0.01). Conclusion The rise of SF is associated with liver damage, which can reflect the state of inflammation of patients with CHB.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the accuracy of serum ferritin (SF) for detecting breast cancer. MethodsWe electronically and comprehensively searched databases including CNKI, WanFang Data, CBM, VIP, PubMed, EMbase and The Cochrane Library (Issue 5, 2013) up to April 2013, for diagnostic tests about using SF for detecting breast cancer. Four reviewers independently screened literature according to the exclusion and inclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed using Meta-Disc 1.4 software and funnel plots were drawn using Stata 12.0 software. ResultsA total of 19 studies were finally included involving 2 977 patients. The results of meta-analysis showed that:Sen, Spe, +LR, -LR, DOR were 0.51 (95%CI 0.48 to 0.53), 0.91 (95%CI 0.89 to 0.92), 5.32 (95%CI 3.72 to 7.60), 0.45 (95%CI 0.35 to 0.57), and 13.22 (95%CI 7.22 to 24.18); SROC area under the curve (AUC) was 0.920 5 and Q* was 0.853 9. Besides, when cut off value was 101-150 μg/L, Sen, Spe, AUC and Q* were the largest, and the best cut-off value was probably 150 μg/L. ConclusionSF has relatively high Sen and Spe in the diagnosis of breast cancer which could not be used as specific index. Heterogeneities exist among the research results, which are possibly associated with researchers, severity of disease, instrument types, sources of reagents, and cut off values. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, the above conclusion should be treated with caution, and in clinic, combing other tumour markers with SF is recommended in detecting breast cancer to augment accuracy.
ObjectivesTo systematically review the association between pretreatment serum ferritin (SF) concentration and prognosis in lung cancer patients.MethodsDatabases including PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data were electronically searched to identify cohort studies on the relationship between the pretreatment SF concentration and prognosis of lung cancer patients from inception to January, 2020. Literature screening, data extraction and quality evaluation of included studies were independently performed by two reviewers. Then, meta-analysis was conducted by Stata 12.0 software.ResultsA total of 8 cohort studies involving 1 002 lung cancer patients were included. The results of meta-analysis indicated that patients with higher pretreatment SF concentration had poorer overall survival (HR=1.70, 95%CI 1.06 to 2.73, P=0.029) compared with patients with lower pretreatment SF concentration. Subgroup analysis based on the pathological type manifested showed that pretreatment SF concentration only had high prognostic value in small cell lung cancer patients (HR=4.78, 95%CI 2.83 to 8.05, P<0.001).ConclusionsLung cancer patients with high pretreatment SF level have worse overall survival. Pretreatment SF concentration may serve as an independent prognostic factor in lung cancer, especially in small cell lung cancer. Due to the limited quality and quantity of included studies, more prospective well-designed studies are required to verify above conclusions.