Introduction: Gastrointestinal cancers are known as the most fatal cancers of human being, which are mostly related to nutritional factors. This study was designed to analysis the serum level of zinc in patients who suffer from adenocarcinoma of stomach and squamous cell carcinoma (S.C.S) of esophagus.
Method & Material: In this case – control study, serum levels of zinc, albumin serum, globulin, total protein and cholesterol of 24 patients with adenocarcinoma and 42 patients with squamous cell carcinoma, as cases were compared with those of 33 healthy persons as controls. 10 ml of blood was taken and serum was analyzed. Serum zinc was measured by atomic absorption, Albumin with biuret method, total protein with refrectometer and cholesterol with hydrous method. T-test and Pearson Correlation coefficient were used for data analysis.
Results: Results show that, there were no significant differences between serum levels in stomach cancer patients and esophagus cancer patients. However, a significant difference was shown in the serum levels of control group with those of cases (P<0.001). Mean serum levels of zinc in the adenocarcinoma patients was significantly lower than that of control group (P<0.001). Moreover, the mean serum globulin in cases was significantly less than mean globulin serum in Control group (P<0.01).
Conclusion: This study showed that zinc serum, serum globulin and total protein levels for those who suffer from gastrointestinal cancers are significantly less than those from healthy subjects.