Trace Elements in Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Abstract

Objective: Although combined chemotherapy regimen leads to 80% remission in children with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), malnutrition and altered serum trace elements as a consequence of chemotherapy agents, have become the new issue to deal with. With the aim to evaluate each trace element in childhood ALL, we investiguâtes six main trace elements before and after induction chemotherapy while considering age, gender and chemotherapy protocol as confounding factors. Methods: Thirty-six newly diagnosed ALL children were recruited, and trace elements were assessed by atomic absorption spectrometry technique. Trace elements (Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Magnesium, Chromium and Iron) decreased significantly after induction chemotherapy. Results: Considering the confounding factors, mean difference of elements decreased significantly, except for Chromium. Its mean difference was only significant in children younger than 10 and those who had received standard risk chemotherapy. Conclusion: In conclusion, all the studied trace elements decreased significantly after induction chemotherapy session in ALL children. This highlights the importance of complementary and supplementary management. A larger cohort study with longer follow up is warranted to elucidate the long-term effect of chemotherapy on these trace elements on the general health status, quality of life or risk of relapse in ALL children.

The trace that is valuable: serum copper and copper to zinc ratio for survival prediction in younger patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukaemia

“…In contrast to our results, data from MD Anderson in the United States suggest that serum zinc levels are not significantly reduced in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia [21]. However, most investigations reported an increased Cu concentration and a decreased Zn concentration in AML patients, and a meta-analysis analysed the data and confirmed this phenomenon [11,23,24]. However, no data were available about the serum Cu and Zn status in patients with AML from Northeast China.…”

Nutritional evaluation of the children and teenagers at the diagnosis time of acute leukemia

“…The results of this study reveal that there was a highly significant difference between the mean scores for case and control groups according to the assessment of the dietary habits (P. value <0.001) in which both case and control groups falls within a moderate level. (10) which showed that (52.9%) of children were boys with acute leukemia, while the control group shows that boys constitute (51.4%) of the studied control sampling, also this result is compatible with the finding of the previous study done in Iraq, (11) which showed that (50.3%).…”

Addressing the gaps in homeostatic mechanisms of copper and copper dithiocarbamate complexes in cancer therapy: a shift from classical platinum-drug mechanisms

“…19 An interesting observation is that, in patients with haematological malignancies, copper levels drop during recovery. 32,33 Copper is a key element that plays a role in a range of important biochemical processes. The ability of breast cancer cells to accumulate and retain copper can be exploited as a target in the design of new anticancer agents.…”

“…19 An interesting observation is that, in patients with haematological malignancies, copper levels drop during recovery. 32,33…”