Hepcidin in neoplastic disease.

Abnormalities in iron metabolism are frequent in the neoplastic disease. The relationship between hepcidin and iron homeostasis in cancerous pathology is incompletely known, although it has been studied during the last years. This paper aims to analyze the role of hepcidin in the neoplastic processes, its correlation with carcinogenesis and anemia, and with the disease activity. It must be mentioned that most of the aspects presented need to be verified in practice. Insufficient data are known for showing hepcidin involvement in carcinogenesis, metastasis or in appreciating the response to anemia treatment in neoplasia.