Ruth Elson

Reduced beta‐cell reserve and pancreatic volume in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia treated with bone marrow transplantation and total body irradiation

Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and diabetes mellitus (DM) occur more frequently after bone marrow transplantation and total body irradiation (BMT/TBI), but the mechanism is unclear. This study investigates insulin sensitivity, β‐cell reserve and pancreatic volume in adult survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

Identifying Cardiovascular Risk in Survivors of Childhood Leukaemia Treated with Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Total Body Irradiation

Background: Survivors of childhood with haematopoietic stem cell transplantation and total body irradiation (HSCT/TBI) have an increased cardiometabolic risk without overt obesity. Aim: To describe cardiometabolic risk in HSCT/TBI survivors and identify anthropometric measurements of adiposity representative of cardiometabolic risks in HSCT/TBI survivors. Method: Childhood leukaemia survivors treated with HSCT/TBI (n = 21, 11 males) were compared with chemotherapy-only (n = 31) and obese non-leukaemic controls (n = 30). All subjects (16–26 years) had blood pressure and auxological measurements (body mass index, waist and hip circumferences) and blood tests (triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein [HDL], and oral glucose tolerance tests). Central adiposity was defined as either increased waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) (>0.5), or waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (males >0.9, females >0.85). Results: HSCT/TBI survivors showed higher prevalence of hypertriglyceridaemia than both comparison groups and higher prevalence of reduced HDL compared to the chemotherapy-only group. The WHR reported a higher prevalence of increased adiposity in HSCT/TBI survivors compared with WC and WHtR, but such differences were not observed in the other groups. In the HSCT survivors, WHR had the highest number of significant associations with metabolic risk factors, and metabolic risks worsen with time elapsed since primary treatment. Conclusions: HSCT/TBI survivors have high cardiometabolic risk that is not sufficiently reflected by WC alone. WHR is a useful surrogate marker for increased cardiometabolic risk in HSCT/TBI survivors.


Bone Mineral Density Corrected for Size in Childhood Leukaemia Survivors Treated with Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Total Body Irradiation

Background: Childhood leukaemia survivors treated with haematopoietic stem cell transplantation and total body irradiation (HSCT-TBI) have multiple risk factors for reduced bone mineral density (BMD) and growth failure; hence, BMD assessment must take body size into consideration. This study aimed to evaluate size-corrected BMD in leukaemia survivors treated with and without HSCT-TBI. Methods: Childhood leukaemia survivors treated with HSCT-TBI (n = 35), aged 17.3 (10.5–20.9) years, were compared with those treated with chemotherapy only, (n = 16) aged 18.5 (16.1–20.9) years, and population references. Outcome measures included anthropometric measurements and BMD by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. BMD was corrected for size as bone mineral apparent density (BMAD). Statistical analysis was performed by 1- and 2-sample t tests as well as regression analysis (5% significance). Results: HSCT-TBI survivors were lighter and shorter with reduced spinal heights compared with chemotherapy-only subjects and population references. Compared with population references, HSCT-TBI survivors showed lower BMD standard deviation scores (SDS) (p = 0.008), but no difference in BMAD-SDS, and chemotherapy-only survivors showed no differences in neither BMD-SDS nor BMAD-SDS. All HSCT-TBI participants with BMD-SDS <–2 had BMAD-SDS >–2. BMAD-SDS was negatively associated with age (r = –0.38, p = 0.029) in HSCT-TBI survivors. Conclusions: Size-corrected BMD are normal in HSCT-TBI survivors in young adulthood, but may reduce overtime. BMD measurements should be corrected for size in these patients to be clinically meaningful.