Can Weight Gain Predict the Outcome of Childhood Leukemia?

This study aimed to assess whether weight gain predicts the outcome of childhood leukemia.

This is a cohort study on patients with leukemia aged 2 to 19 years. Data was gathered by a form consisting of age, sex, baseline and final weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI), and poor outcome (mortality plus occurrence). We used the Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) curve and the Area under the Curve (AUC) to define the cut-off points. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software version 19.

114 patients enrolled in the study, including 68 (59.6%) boys and 46 (40.4%) girls. Ten patients (8.7%) died, and 14 (12.2%) experienced a recurrence. Overall, 16 (14.1%) patients had poor outcomes. In this study, most patients had annual weight gain (95.6%), and all had height gain. AUC of weight and height gain at the diagnosis and the end regarding poor outcome were 0.672 and 0.718, respectively. The cut-off points of weight and height gain for poor outcomes were 1.2 % per month (14.5% annual weight gain, and 0.32 % per month (3.8% annual height gain), respectively. Besides, 60% of patients with weight loss had poor outcomes, and the results revealed that weight loss of more than 12% per year causes poor outcomes.

According to the results, weight and height gain during the treatment period can be related to a better outcome in children and adolescents with leukemia, irrespective of weight, height, and BMI at the diagnosis. Therefore, anthropometric indices may be associated with outcomes