Summary.-Serum complement levels were assayed in 26 patients with disseminated cancer, who received immunotherapy with infusion of C. parvum. Complement activation, indicated by the consumption of C3 or C4 or both, was found in 46°' of the patients.Serum samples showed direct correlation between decreased C3 and conversion of C3 proactivator, whereas such conversion did not occur when C4 alone was decreased. It is concluded that the bypass (properdin) pathway was activated in patients in whom C3 consumption was detected, while the classical (Cl) pathway was activated in the patients with C4 consumption unaccompanied by C3 decrease. Direct correlation was observed between delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity reactions to recall antigens and the incidence of C. parvum-associated complement activation.

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SUMMARY Serum ferritin concentrations were found to be raised, often considerably, in 58 of 76 black patients with primary liver cancer (PLC). No correlation could be demonstrated between the serum ferritin concentration and several other measurements, including the following: hepatic iron stores measured chemically, the size of the tumour, serum transaminase values, and the presence or absence of cirrhosis in the non-tumorous liver. There was, however, a negative correlation between serum ferritin and alpha-foetoprotein concentrations. Ferritin was purified from PLC tissue obtained from three patients at necropsy and the distribution of isoferritins was determined by isoelectric focusing. Acidic isoferritins similar to those previously found in PLC tissue were obtained. Their acidic nature was confirmed chromatographically using DEAE cellulose. Because the serum ferritin in patients with PLC probably consists of a mixture of normal and acidic isoferritins, it is likely that the serum ferritin assay used in the present study underestimated the actual concentrations present. With the development of an assay which utilises a specific antibody against acidic PLC isoferritins, serum ferritin may prove to be a second marker for PLC.Storage iron exists in two forms which are closely related both functionally and structurally: the diffuse soluble fraction is called ferritin and the aggregated insoluble fraction, haemosiderin. With the development of sensitive immunoradiometric assays for ferritin, it has become apparent that small amounts are normally present in serum (Jacobs et al., 1972) and that the concentrations closely mirror the size of the iron stores in the body (Walters et al, 1973). There are, however, conditions in which this relationship does not hold. Inappropriately high concentrations may occur in infections, in acute and chronic liver diseases, in various haemolytic states, and in a number of neoplastic disorders, including leukaemias, lymphomata, and solid tumours (Jacobs and Worwood, 1975).Of particular interest has been the finding of raised serum ferritin concentrations in some patients with primary liver cancer (PLC).

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