Zinc and metallothioneins in cancer.

Metallothioneins are intracellular macromolecules having a remarkable ability to bind metallic ions. These proteins bind metals indispensable for the organism as well as those which enter the organism incidentally as a result of environmental pollution (e.g. cadmium or lead). The elements which are vital for the organism, and for the homeostasis of which metallothioneins are responsible, are mainly zinc and copper. In the conducted experiments an increase of zinc and metallothioneins content was found in the neoplastic tissue. The increase was perhaps caused by more rigorous demands of the neoplastic cell for zinc and metallothionein imposed by its more dynamic metabolism.