Magnesium and
zinc are the elements having essential roles in regulation of cell growth, division and differentiation. There have been some studies in the literature suggesting an association between the deficiency of these elements and the development of malignant disorders. In this study hair and serum
zinc and
magnesium levels were investigated in children with
acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and
malignant lymphoma (ML) at the time of initial diagnosis. Ten children with T-cell ALL, 10 children with B-precursor ALL, 5 children with
Burkitt's Lymphoma (
BL), 11 children with
Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL), 10 children with non-Burkitt
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NBNHL) and 12 age and sex matched healthy children as a control group were included in the study. Mean hair
magnesium levels in all of the groups of the patients were lower than the levels in the control group but the difference was statistically significant only in the children with T cell ALL comparable to the controls (28.9+/-3.9 microg/g and 87.6+/-18.5 microg/g respectiveley, p<0,05). Mean serum
magnesium levels in all the cohorts were not significantly different than those in controls (p>0.05 in each comparison). Mean hair
zinc levels in the patients with T-cell, B-precursor ALL, BL, HL, NBNHL were 103.4+/-14.6 microg/g, 100.9+/-7.8 microg/g, 91.1+/-19 microg/g, 72.5+/-9.1 microg/g, 103.2+/-12.2 microg/g respectively. Each of these levels were significantly lower than the mean hair
zinc levels of the control group (141.2+/-9.6 microg/g, p<0.05 in each comparison). Although mean serum
zinc levels in all of the groups were also decreased, the differences were statistically significant only in the groups with B-precursor ALL, HL and NBNHL (75.9+/-5.29 microg/dl, 68.6+/-7.3 microg/dl, 85.7+/-5.5 microg/dl respectively) when compared with controls (105.1+/-9.9 microg/dl, p<0.05 in each comparison). Hair
magnesium and
zinc levels showed a positive correlation with each other in all the groups (r congruent with 0.5). No significant difference was found in the mean hair/serum
magnesium and
zinc levels between malnourished and nonmalnourished patients. In conclusion, regarding the results of our study and previous data in the literature chronic
magnesium and
zinc deficiency seems to be associated with the development of ALL and
malignant lymphoma in a group of patients.