Serum ferritin in acute leukaemia at presentation and during remission.

In patients with acute myeloblastic leukaemia the mean serum ferritin concentration showed a twenty-five-fold increase compared with normal people, and in children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (A.L.L.) there was a thirteen-fold increase. The high concentration of circulating ferritin seemed to be related to increased synthesis by leukaemic cells. The return of serum concentrations to normal in A.L.L. patients after successful chemotherapy suggested that ferritin concentration may be a useful index of active disease and may help in prognosis.