Bone mineral density in adult survivors of childhood acute leukemia: impact of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and other treatment modalities.

Femoral and lumbar bone mineral densities (BMDs) were measured in 159 adults enrolled in the Leucémies de l'Enfant et de l'Adolescent program, a French prospective multicentric cohort of childhood leukemia survivors. BMDs were expressed as Z-scores, and multivariate linear regression analyses were used to construct association models with potential risk factors. Mean age at evaluation and follow-up was 23 and 14.7 years, respectively. In the whole cohort, mean femoral Z-score was -0.19 ± 0.08. Two factors were associated with lower femoral BMD transplantation (-0.49 ± 0.15 vs -0.04 ± 0.10 in the chemotherapy group; P = .006) and female sex (-0.34 ± 0.10 vs -0.03 ± 0.13; P = .03). Among patients who received a transplant, the only significant risk factor was hypogonadism (-0.88 ± 0.16 vs -0.10 ± 0.23; P = .04). A slight reduction in lumbar BMD (mean Z-score, -0.37 ± 0.08) was detected in the whole cohort without difference between the transplantation and chemotherapy groups. Among patients who received a transplant, younger age at transplantation was correlated with a low lumbar BMD (P = .03). We conclude that adults who had received only chemotherapy for childhood leukemia have a slight reduction in their lumbar BMD and a normal femoral BMD. Patients who received a transplant with gonadal deficiency have a reduced femoral BMD which might increase the fracture risk later in life.

Prevalence and risk factors of the metabolic syndrome in adult survivors of childhood leukemia.

We evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of the metabolic syndrome (MS) in young adults surviving childhood leukemia. During the years 2007 to 2008, assessment of MS was proposed to all adults included in the Leucémie de l'Enfant et de l'Adolescent program, a French prospective multicentric cohort of leukemia survivors. Among 220 eligible patients, 184 (83.6%) had complete evaluation. Median age at evaluation and follow-up duration were 21.2 and 15.4 years. Overall prevalence of MS was 9.2% (95% confidence interval, 5.5-14.4). There was no association of MS with sex, age at diagnosis, leukemia subtype, steroid therapy, and central nervous system irradiation. Patients were stratified according to 4 therapeutic modalities: chemotherapy alone (n = 97), chemotherapy and central nervous system irradiation (n = 27), hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) without (n = 17) or with (n = 43) total body irradiation (TBI). MS occurred in 5.2%, 11.1%, 5.9%, and 18.6% of them, respectively. The higher risk observed in the HSCT-TBI group was significant in univariate and in multivariate analysis (odds ratio [OR] = 3.9, P = .03). HSCT with TBI was associated with a higher rate of hypertriglyceridemia (OR = 4.5, P = .004), low level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (OR = 2.5, P = .02), and elevated fasting glucose (OR = 6.1, P = .04) So, TBI is a major risk factor for MS. Further studies are warranted to explain this feature.