Serum selenium concentrations in patients with newly diagnosed lymphoid malignancies.

BACKGROUND Increased mortality from lymphoid malignancies following exposure to environmental selenium has recently been reported. Moreover, conflicting results have been found in investigations examining the relationship between serum concentrations of selenium and some clinical features of malignant lymphoproliferative diseases. METHODS Serum concentrations of selenium were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry in fifty-nine patients with newly diagnosed chronic lymphoid malignancies and in forty control subjects. RESULTS Selenium concentrations were significantly lower in patients than in control subjects. However, when only patients with localized disease were compared to controls, no significant difference in serum selenium concentrations was observed. Clinical stage was inversely associated with selenium levels. High-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was characterized by lower selenium levels than low-grade and intermediate-grade disease. Selenium levels were positively associated with albumin and hemoglobin, and inversely correlated with serum concentrations of beta 2-microglobulin and with erythrocyte sedimentation rate. CONCLUSIONS The findings of this study do not suggest that a high selenium intake represents a risk factor for malignant lymphoproliferative diseases, but limitations of the investigation hamper evaluation of the results. The possible utility of determining serum concentrations of selenium in the clinical evaluation of patients with lymphoid malignancies merits examination in larger studies.