Baseline serum vitamin A levels were studied in 162 patients with lung cancer. The possible correlation between the vitamin A levels and the histological types and staging of cancer as well as between the vitamin A levels and the treatment results was assessed. In most patients a variable serum vitamin A deficit was observed even in the early stages. The deficit increased in the advanced stages of the disease. Also, in all histological types and stages of cancer a statistically significant correlation was found between the vitamin A levels and the treatment results. A high vitamin A level was frequently, though not invariably, associated with successful treatment and long survival. A deficit correlated with ineffective treatment. The bigger the deficit was, the poorer were the treatment results and the shorter the survival.

Keywords: lung cancer, treatment, Vitamin A