Obesity linked to adverse events in children with leukemia

(HealthDay)—For children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), obesity is associated with an increased risk for adverse events during premaintenance chemotherapy, according to a study published in the February issue of Pediatric Blood & Cancer.

Chelsea K. Meenan, from the University of Pittsburgh, and colleagues retrospectively evaluated 155 pediatric ALL patients diagnosed at a single institution between 2006 and 2012 for adverse events. The authors compared the proportions of obese versus nonobese patients experiencing adverse events.

The researchers found that in univariate analyses, treatment-requiring hypertension (17.5 versus 6.1 percent; odds ratio, 3.27) and insulin-requiring hyperglycemia (25.0 versus 11.3 percent; odds ratio, 2.62) occurred significantly more frequently in obese patients. The incidence rates for recurrent admission-requiring infections (incidence rate ratio, 1.64) and recurrent febrile neutropenia admissions (incidence rate ratio, 1.53) were greater for obese patients. Obesity was a risk factor for treatment-requiring hypertension, insulin-requiring hyperglycemia, and febrile neutropenia admission after accounting for combined age and National Cancer Institute risk status (odds ratios, 3.90, 3.92, and 2.92, respectively).

"Obese children with ALL represent a group of patients at risk for poor outcomes due to treatment-related morbidity," the authors write. "Early management of these adverse events and surveillance initiated at diagnosis may mitigate risk in this distinct population of patients."

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