Journal of Cancer and Tumor International

Aims: To clarify the role of trace elements in the etiology and the pathogenesis of the Ewing's sarcoma, a non-destructive neutron activation analysis with high resolution spectrometry of long-lived radionuclides were performed.

Methodology: The silver (Ag), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), mercury (Hg), rubidium (Rb), antimony (Sb), selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn) content,  Rb/Co, Rb/Fe, Rb/Se, Cr/Co, Cr/Fe and Cr/Se mass fractions ratios, Co×Fe, Co×Se and Fe×Se mass fraction multiplications as well as Rb/(Co×Fe), Rb/(Co×Se) and Rb/( Fe×Se) indices were estimated in normal bone samples from 27 patients with intact bone (12 females and 15 males, aged from 16 to 49 years), who had died from various non bone related causes, mainly unexpected from trauma and in tumor samples, obtained from open biopsies or after operation of 6 patients with Ewing's sarcoma (6 males, 5 to 24 years old). The reliability of difference in the results between intact bone and Ewing's sarcoma tissues was evaluated by Student’s t-test and nonparametric Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney U-test.

Results: In the Ewing's sarcoma tissue the mass fractions of Co, Fe and Se are significantly higher while the mass fraction of Rb is lower than in normal bone tissues. Moreover, we found significantly lower values of mass fraction ratios (Rb/Co, Rb/Fe, Rb/Se) and indeces [Rb/(Co×Fe), Rb/(Co×Se) and Rb/(Fe×Se)] as well as significant higher mean values of Co×Fe, Co×Se and Fe×Se mass fractions multiplications in the Ewing's sarcoma tissue compared to intact bone. In the Ewing's sarcoma tissue many correlations between trace elements found in the control group was no longer evident.

Conclusion: In Ewing's sarcoma transformed bone tissues the trace element homeostasis is significantly disturbed.