trace elements (se, zn, and cu) levels in patients with newly diagnosed acute leukemia

objective: this study was conducted to evaluate serum trace elements level, selenium (se), zinc (zn), and copper (cu) at the diagnosis of acute leukemia, and also if there is any difference in their serum levels among various subtypes of disease. subjects: fifty newly-diagnosed acute leukemia patients before starting therapy and fifty healthy subjects were entered into the study. methods: serum trace elements level was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry technique. results: serum selenium and zinc levels were significantly lower in patients than in healthy subjects. the comparison of trace element levels in acute myeloid leukemia (aml) subtypes showed significant difference in se levels between aml-m3 and aml-m5. there were no significant difference between cu levels of patients and healthy subjects. conclusions: low serum levels of zn and se in leukemia patients in this study can express the need for assessing the effect of improving trace elements status on patient`s overall survival. a difference in se levels between subgroups of aml patients warrants further investigation with larger sample size.