(ChemotherapyAdvisor) – Prevalence of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH D) insufficiency in survivors of childhood cancer is high, warranting interventions to improve 25-OH D status, results of a retrospective chart review presented June 25 at The Endocrine Society’s 94th Annual Meeting in Houston, TX, has found.
Abha Choudhary, MD, and colleagues determined prevalence of and risk factors for 25-OH D insufficiency in a large, diverse population of cancer survivors being followed in a survivor clinic at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY.
The study included survivors seen for routine long-term follow-up from January 2008 to January 2011 who underwent screening blood studies that included 25-OH D levels; insufficiency was defined as a level <20ng/mL. Excluded were those with unavailable treatment data, with a noncancer diagnosis who had not undergone a stem cell transplant, or taking calcitriol.
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A total of 484 patients, 234 males, were evaluable. Diagnoses included brain tumors (23.6%), neuroblastoma (21%), leukemia (17.6%), soft tissue sarcomas (9.1%) and bone tumors (6.0%).
Mean age at 25-OH D testing was 12.3 years; mean age at cancer diagnosis was 5.2 years; and mean interval from cancer diagnosis to 25-OH D testing was 7.02 years. Mean 25-OH D level was 25.2ng/mL, with 29% of patients found to be 25-OH D insufficient.
In univariate analysis, the investigators found race, pubertal status, and age at diagnosis to be associated with 25-OH D insufficiency (P<0.05 for all factors). “Borderline associations were seen between 25-OH D insufficiency and seasonality (P=0.20) and exposure to total body irradiation (P=0.061),” they found.
These finding are similar to what has been described in the general population. “Moreover, we were unable to identify any cancer specific variables that were associated with 25-OH D insufficiency,” Dr. Choudhary concluded.
Abstract (requires free registration; search for “Choudhary” in box at top left and select the first item, abstract [MON-619])
