Does weight for height have prognostic significance in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia?

PURPOSE: We tested the hypothesis that weight for height, a simple index of nutritional status, is related to prognosis in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

The study population was composed of 78 children with ALL tested at one U.K. center on the same protocol (UKALL-X). Outcome measures were relapse/no relapse and time to first relapse. Influence of weight for height, expressed as standard deviation scores, was tested using survival analysis in a retrospective design.

RESULTS

The weight-for-height standard deviation score had a significant influence on time until first relapse (log ranks test, p = 0.012), with the highest risk of early relapse in children at the lower end of the weight-for-height distribution.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest that weight for height does have an influence on outcome in ALL, but the mechanism is unclear and the finding requires confirmation by larger scale prospective studies.