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ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION |
1 From the Division of Pediatric Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, New York (DDK, EDL, and KMK); the Division of Oncology, The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (SRR); and the US Department of Agriculture Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center for Aging ((KLT and JB) and the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy (DDK, KLT, and JB) at Tufts University, Boston
2 Supported by American Institute for Cancer Research grant no. 98BO72, The Lerner and Schwartz Family, and American Cancer Society grant 7-88625. 3 Address reprint requests to KM Kelly, Division of Pediatric Oncology, Columbia University, 161 Fort Washington Avenue, Irving Pavilion 7, New York, NY 10032. E-mail: kk291{at}columbia.edu.
| ABSTRACT |
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Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the effect of therapy on antioxidant intakes in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the relation between dietary antioxidant intakes and plasma antioxidant concentrations, and the relation between the incidence of side effects due to treatment and antioxidant intake.
Design: We conducted a 6-mo observational study of 103 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Plasma micronutrient concentrations, dietary intakes, and incidence of side effects of chemotherapy were ascertained at diagnosis and after 3 and 6 mo of therapy.
Results: Throughout the 6-mo study period, subjects ingested vitamin E, total carotenoid, ß-carotene, and vitamin A in amounts that were 66%, 30%, 59%, and 29%, respectively, of the US recommended dietary allowance or of the amounts specified in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Greater vitamin C intakes at 6 mo were associated with fewer therapy delays, less toxicity, and fewer days spent in the hospital. Greater vitamin E intakes at 3 mo were associated with a lower incidence of infection. Greater ß-carotene intakes at 6 mo were associated with a decreased risk of toxicity.
Conclusion: A large percentage of children undergoing treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia have inadequate intakes of antioxidants and vitamin A. Lower intakes of antioxidants are associated with increases in the adverse side effects of chemotherapy.
Key Words: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia antioxidants chemotherapy toxicity nutrition diet children
| INTRODUCTION |
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Few research studies have investigated the nutritional status of children with cancer, and most of those few examined only anthropometric measurements of nutritional status or clinical markers such as prealbumin (3, 610). We examined the antioxidant status of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), in part because of the widespread belief among families in our practice that antioxidant supplementation may benefit the child undergoing cancer treatment.
Antioxidant use is not part of the conventional treatment of children with cancer, and therefore it is considered complementary or alternative medicine. The use of complementary or alternative medicine among cancer patients has increased dramatically during the past 30 y. A study in British Columbia showed that 42% of children with cancer were using some form of complementary or alternative medicine, and almost half of those children were taking vitamin supplements (11). In another study of 15 children with ALL, it was reported that all 15 took vitamin supplements (12). Among pediatric oncology patients at Childrens Hospital in New York City, nutritional supplementation, especially with agents with antioxidant properties, was common (13).
ALL is the most common type of childhood cancer, and therefore patients with ALL represent a large homogenous population of children for study. Most children with ALL do not have overt malnutrition, which makes them a reasonable population in which to investigate the effect of antioxidant status (14). We hypothesized that, despite adequate dietary antioxidant intakes, children would develop inadequate plasma antioxidant concentrations as a result of the increased free radical load from the chemotherapy and the cancer. We also hypothesized that patients with sufficient antioxidant intakes while undergoing chemotherapy would have better tolerance of the treatment and would experience fewer treatment-related adverse effects than would those with insufficient antioxidant intakes.
| SUBJECTS AND METHODS |
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Nutrient intake analysis
Nutrient calculations for the 24-h dietary recall were performed by using Minnesota NUTRITION DATA SYSTEM (NDS) software (FOOD DATABASE, version 11a, and NUTRIENT DATABASE, version 26; Nutrition Coordinating Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). The Youth/Adolescent Questionnaire was analyzed at the Channing Laboratory, Boston.
Nutrient intake data from the FFQ adjusted by 24-h dietary recall data was used to ascertain changes in intake over time, to evaluate relations between nutrient intake and toxicities, and to determine whether there was a correlation between plasma concentrations and dietary intakes of the nutrient. Analyses were performed for total intakes of vitamin A, E and C, which included dietary and supplement contributions, and separately for dietary intakes alone, adjusted for supplement use as appropriate. The FFQ and the 24-h dietary recall asked about supplement use.
The 24-h dietary recalls were used to adjust the FFQ values when exploring changes in intakes over time as well as when determining deficient intakes. Because the FFQ may overestimate the intake of a single nutrient, the FFQ value was adjusted according to the percentage difference between the 2 diet analysis methods. For each micronutrient, the following method of adjustment was used: the mean intake from 24-h recalls for the group at each time point was calculated and compared with the FFQ means at each time point. The percentage difference between the FFQ and 24-h mean values was calculated, and then the FFQ was adjusted according to the percentage difference:
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Side effects and disease status
Data on adverse effects of chemotherapy were abstracted from each patients medical chart at time 1, time 2, and time 3. The data collected for each of the 3 time points included the number of days of hospitalization, chemotherapy dose reductions because of hematologic and nonhematologic toxicity, amount of delay in scheduled therapy, use of total parenteral nutrition, infection, and other grade 3 or 4 hematologic and nonhematologic toxicity as defined by the second version of the National Cancer Institute common toxicity criteria (Internet: http://ctep.cancer.gov/forms/CTCManual_v4_10-4-99.pdf). In addition, the number of patients requiring a major change in the treatment protocol (termed going "off study") because of progressive disease, relapse, or severe toxicity was recorded for each time point.
Rapidity of response to chemotherapy was evaluated after the first 7 d (high-risk patients) or 14 d (standard-risk patients) of therapy. Remission status was ascertained at the end of 28 d of treatment. The percentage of lymphoblasts present in a 100-cell count of the bone marrow was calculated. If <5% of cells in the day 7 (high-risk patients) or day 14 (standard-risk patients) bone marrow were lymphoblasts, then the bone marrow was classified as M1 (rapid early responder); a bone marrow with 525% lymphoblasts was classified as M2 (intermediate responder); and a bone marrow with a lymphoblast count >25% was classified as M3 (slow early responder). Remission was attained if the day 28 bone marrow was classified as M1.
Blood collection
Blood was collected into heparin-containing tubes that were protected from light. Samples were brought to the laboratory or shipped overnight for processing as soon as possible after collection. Blood was kept under subdued light until mononuclear cells were isolated by centrifugation for 25 min at 1600 x g and at room temperature over Histopaque 1077 (Sigma Chemical Co, St Louis).
Antioxidant measurements
Total ascorbate
Total ascorbic acid was measured by using HPLC analysis of deproteinized plasma in which complete reduction of the dehydroascorbic acid was accomplished by the addition of homocysteine according to the procedure of Behrens et al (17). Samples were injected onto a 150 x 4-mm reverse-phase column (Bio-Sil ODS 5S; Bio-Rad, Richmond, CA) and analyzed by HPLC (Millennium System; Waters Associates, Milford, MA) with the use of an amperometric electrochemical detector (model LC4B; Bioanalytical Systems, West Lafayette, IN). Ascorbic acid (10 µg/mL) was used as a standard.
Vitamins A and E
Retinol and
-tocopherol concentrations in plasma were measured simultaneously by using HPLC according to the procedure of Bieri et al (18). Plasma samples were deproteinized, extracted in hexane, dried, and then reconstituted in an ethanol and methanol solution. This sample was injected onto a Jsphere ODS reverse-phase column (YMC, Wilmington, NC) and analyzed by HPLC (Waters Associates) with the use of a multiwavelength detector (model 490; Waters Associates). Concentrations of retinol and
-tocopherol standards (Sigma Chemical Co) were measured on a spectrophotometer (model DU640; Beckman Instruments, Fullerton, CA) with an extinction coefficient of 1835 (1%, 1 cm) for retinol and 71 (1%, 1 cm) for
-tocopherol.
Total carotenoids
Carotenoids in plasma were extracted into hexane and measured by using a colorimetric procedure according to Roels et al (19) on a model DU640 spectrophotometer with an absorbance of 452 nm and using an extinction coefficient of 2550 (1%, 1 cm).
HDL or LDL cholesterol and triacylglycerols
Total cholesterol and triacylglycerol concentrations were analyzed by using standardized enzymatic methods (Boehringer Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany) and an automated spectrophotometer (model 704; Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan). HDL-cholesterol concentrations were analyzed in the same manner after precipitation of apolipoprotein Bcontaining lipoproteins with phosphotungstic acid (20) with the use of reagents supplied by Boehringer Mannheim (St Louis). LDL-cholesterol concentrations were calculated by using the Friedewald formula (21).
Statistical analysis
The primary outcomes of this study were the 6-mo changes in plasma concentrations of vitamin E and vitamin C. The power to detect a change of 0.85 in vitamin E/total cholesterol with 100 subjects was 82% and the power to detect a change of 0.2 mg in vitamin C/total cholesterol was 93%. Plasma total carotenoids, plasma vitamin A, and dietary intakes were secondary endpoints.
Changes in nutrient intakes over time were investigated with repeated-measures analysis of variance by using the mixed procedure in SAS software (version 8.2; SAS Inc, Cary, NC). Analysis was performed together on adjusted total intakes of vitamins A, E, and C, which included dietary and supplement contributions, and separately on adjusted dietary intake alone for vitamins A, C, and E; total carotenoids; and ß-carotene. The potential confounders energy, age, sex, race, and supplement use (yes or no; for dietary intake only) were included in the models. Data from the adjusted FFQ was used for both total and dietary intakes to investigate changes in dietary intakes of vitamins A, C, and E; total carotenoids; and ß-carotene. Data on the use of supplements for vitamins A, E, and C were obtained from the FFQ. Tukeys adjusted test was used for post hoc analyses.
To explore the relation between antioxidants in plasma and dietary intake, we employed regression analysis with adjustment for the confounding factors of age, sex, race, energy intake, and supplement use (for dietary intake only). Regression analysis was also used to investigate the relation between dietary intakes and the risk of toxicity, response to therapy, quality of life, and disease status with the use of age, sex, race, BMI z score in relation to current recommendations for age (22), energy, and supplement intake as covariates. The distributions of measured nutrient intakes were highly skewed for all but total vitamin C intake; therefore, we analyzed square roottransformed values for energy, ß-carotene, total carotenoids, vitamin E, and vitamin A. Analysis was performed on both total intake and dietary intake alone and adjusted for supplement consumption by using SPSS software (version 10.0; SPSS Inc, Chicago).
Subjects were classified as having adequate or inadequate nutrient plasma concentrations as compared with clinical chemistry standards for vitamins A, C, and E (23). A low plasma concentration of total carotenoid was defined as <40 µg/dL. Low intake was defined as less than the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for the specific age group for vitamins C, A, and E (24) and less than the age-specific mean intake data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III; 25) for ß-carotene and total carotenoids, obtained with the use of the adjusted values.
We investigated the relation of FFQ data, which asked about intakes over the previous 3 mo, to plasma concentrations by using SPSS version 10.0 software package (Chicago). As an internal validity check of the food intake instruments, we assessed the correlation between the FFQ and the 24-h dietary recall.
| RESULTS |
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There was no significant change in vitamin C intakes, both total and dietary, over the 6-mo period. Intakes at time 1, time 2, and time 3 were 92 ± 5, 84 ± 6, and 83 ± 6 mg, respectively.
Total vitamin E intakes decreased from time 1 [6.7 ± 0.2 mg
-tocopherol equivalents (
TE)] to time 2 (6.2 ± 0.2 mg
TE; P = 0.03) and remained unchanged at time 3 (6.3 ± 0.2 mg
TE; P = 0.94). When vitamin E intakes from the diet alone were examined separately, there was an increase from time 1 (5.2 ± 0.1 mg
TE) to time 2 (8.3 ± 0.1 mg
TE; P < 0.001) and a decrease between time 1 and time 3 (7.6 ± 0.1 mg
TE; P < 0.001) and between time 2 and time 3 (P < 0.001).
For most of the children, vitamin E intakes were below the RDA recommendation and ß-carotene intakes were below the US mean intake as measured by NHANES III (Table 4
). Up to 88% of the children reported intakes below the recommendation for at least one antioxidant nutrient. The percentage of children whose intakes of total vitamin C and total carotenoids were below the recommendation did not change over time, but there was an improvement over time in the percentage of those whose vitamin E intakes were originally below the recommendation. For vitamin A and ß-carotene, there was a decrease in the percentage of children whose intakes were below recommendation between time 1 and time 2, but that percentage rose again between time 2 and time 3. When nutrient intake values from the diet alone were investigated, the percentage of children consuming amounts below the standard intakes did not change appreciably. The percentage of children whose intakes were below recommendation, when the dietary intakes of vitamin C were taken into account, decreased between time 1 and time 3.
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Plasma vitamin C concentrations increased from time 1 to time 2 (P = 0.04) but then decreased at time 3 (P = 0.007) to the original concentrations. Vitamin E expressed per total lipid was the only nutrient that decreased between time 1 and time 2 (P = 0.02). The ratio remained low at time 3 (P = 0.009), even though increases in total lipid between time 1 and time 3 (P = 0.001) and between time 2 and time 3 (P = 0.006) were observed. Plasma vitamin E concentrations decreased between time 1 and time 2 (P = 0.005) and remained lower at time 3 (P = 0.02).
Relation of antioxidant intakes to plasma concentrations
The relation between the consumption of a specific nutrient from the FFQ and its plasma concentration was analyzed for vitamins A, C, and E and total carotenoids by using regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, race, energy intake, and fasting status. ß-Carotene was not measured in the plasma. Total vitamin E intakes were associated with plasma
-tocopherol (ß = 0.296, R2 = 0.083, P = 0.014) at time 1 and time 2 (ß = 0.284, R2 = 0.136, P = 0.014). Total vitamin E intakes approached significance for plasma
-tocopherol/total lipid at time 1(ß = 0.240, R2 = 0.071, P = 0.064) and were significant at time 2 (ß = 0.263, R2 = 0.184, P = 0.021) and time 3 (ß = 0.242, R2 = 0.110, P = 0.044). Total vitamin C intakes were associated with plasma vitamin C (ß = 0.292, R2 = 0.207, P = 0.013) at time 1 and approached significance at time 2 (ß = 0.196, R2 = 0.112, P = 0.086). Total carotenoid and vitamin A intakes were not associated with their respective plasma concentrations at any time point according to the FFQ.
Relation of antioxidant intakes to chemotherapy regimen toxicity
Regression analysis was conducted with total vitamin intakes and dietary vitamin intakes alone to determine whether either was associated with side effects. Greater vitamin intakes were associated with a lower incidence of measured side effects (Table 5
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When the nutrient intakes were averaged over the 3 time points, greater average intakes of vitamin C, ß-carotene, and total carotenoids were associated with a lower risk of hematologic or nonhematologic toxicity at time 2. After Bonferronis adjustment for multiple side effect comparisons for each nutrient intake, only greater average intakes of ß-carotene remained significant at a P value < 0.008 at time 2 (P = 0.002), for a lower risk of toxicity.
Antioxidant intakes and responses to chemotherapy
Data on the rapidity of response to chemotherapy were available for 87 patients. In 57 patients, the bone marrow morphology (ie, the proportion of cells that were lymphoblasts) was classified as M1; in 19 patients the classification was M2; and in 11 patients the classification was M3. At diagnosis, those with higher vitamin A intakes (P = 0.05) were more likely to have a slow response to treatment, whereas those with higher vitamin E intakes (P = 0.05) were more likely to have a rapid response to treatment (Table 5
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Nutritional support
As determined by the FFQ, multivitamin and mineral supplementation decreased between time 1 and time 2 (P < 0.001) and between time 1 and time 3 (P < 0.001) with 41%, 20%, and 17% of patients using supplements at time 1, time 2, and time 3, respectively. Antioxidant supplementation was rare, with 4%, 3%, and 1% of patients using supplements at time 1, time 2, and time 3, respectively. Supplementation was not associated with side effects at any of the time points.
Data from the 24-h dietary recalls showed that energy intake was only 3.19 mJ at time 1, compared with 5.74 mJ at time 2 and 7.25 mJ at time 3. Average body mass index (BMI; in kg/m2) increased from time 1 (17.2) to time 3 (18.2; P = 0.02). BMI z scores also increased between time 1 (0.02) and time 2 (0.84; P = 0.01). Nutritional intervention was rarely prescribed during the 6-mo course of the study: at time 1, only 2% of patients were receiving total parenteral nutrition (TPN), and 2% were receiving oral nutrition supplementation such as Pediasure or Ensure (both: Ross Products Division, Abbott Laboratories, Columbus OH). At time 2, 7% of the subjects had received oral nutrition supplementation during the previous 3 mo, but none had received TPN. Between time 2 and time 3, 6% of the patients received TPN and 6% received oral nutrition supplementation.
| DISCUSSION |
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We observed that children were eating less at diagnosis than is usual for their age. When we conducted the 24-h dietary recalls, it was common for the parent to comment that intake was not usual because the child was in the hospital and not feeling well. Another study of 15 children with ALL found low energy intakes at diagnosis, but intakes returned to normal after 36 d of treatment (26). Low energy intakes were also short-term in our study. Despite the increase in energy intakes, consumption of antioxidant nutrients remained low, and little improvement in their consumption was observed with the initiation of chemotherapy and through the 6-mo study period. Supplement use prevented declines in vitamin E and vitamin A intakes between time 1 and time 3.
In a subset analysis of a larger study evaluating serum antioxidant concentrations in children undergoing chemotherapy for a wide range of cancers, a trend toward reductions in serum ß-carotene and
-tocopherol concentrations after 6 mo of treatment was observed in 62 children with ALL (27). However, the relation between dietary intakes and plasma antioxidant concentrations was not previously investigated in children with ALL. Whereas intakes of vitamin E remained below the RDA for most patients in the current study, few had inadequate plasma vitamin E concentrations, and vitamin A and total carotenoid concentrations increased over the course of therapy, despite either a reduction or no change in consumption. Vitamin C concentrations in the plasma varied by the phase of therapy, whereas consumption remained constant. With a reduction in leukemic cell burden, there is less utilization of vitamin C by lymphoblasts, which possibly resulted in an increase in the plasma concentrations at time 2. During delayed intensification therapy, children underwent more intensive chemotherapy and thus received a greater free radical load. This greater free radical load and a limited supply of vitamin C may account for the decrease in plasma vitamin C concentrations between time 2 and time 3. Thus, the requirement for vitamin C may be greater in children with ALL, as reflected by the number of children with low plasma concentrations despite apparently adequate intakes.
Previous studies investigated the association of anthropometric measures of nutritional status and disease outcome. Children with ALL who were undernourished, as defined by low BMI, had a lower 5-y survival, increased relapse rate, and more frequent reductions in the chemotherapy dose (4). A shorter period of remission was observed in malnourished children, as defined by height-for-age and weight-for-age (28). A lower weight-for-height was also associated with shorter remission (29), although that was not seen in a follow-up study (30). None of these studies investigated the occurrence of side effects according to micronutrient status.
The association of antioxidant intakes and the presence of hematologic or nonhematologic toxicity at time 2 and time 3 appeared to be the most sensitive of all the side effects measures that we examined. Higher average intakes of vitamin C, ß-carotene, and total carotenoids over time and higher intakes of vitamin C and ß-carotene at time 3 were associated with a lower incidence of chemotherapy-related toxicity. It is possible, however, that some of these significant findings were due to the multiple comparisons performed in the analyses, although the pattern of results suggests a benefit of vitamin intakes with respect to side effects. Further study is needed to confirm these findings.
Low intakes of vitamin C were the most predictive of all the nutrient intakes studied with respect to the occurrence of side effects, especially during delayed intensification therapy. Because lower consumption of vitamin C at the end of the study was found to be related to an increased risk of a delay in therapy or of experiencing hematologic or nonhematologic toxicity and because only a small minority (7%) of subjects were not meeting the RDA, an increase in the requirement for vitamin C in these patients should be considered.
Our results suggest that children are not meeting the requirement for vitamin E and that the high intakes of vitamin C during this study may not be sufficient. Because there are concerns about potential adverse interactions with chemotherapy (31), we do not support antioxidant supplementation at this time. Although we had expected antioxidant use to be common, our results did not confirm this in the children with ALL.
Limitations of this study include the lack of national standards for antioxidant status and of intake requirements for ß-carotene and total carotenoids. It is possible that the cutoffs chosen were too conservative and that more children than we identified had deficiencies. Another limitation is the inadequacy of the instruments used to predict dietary intake: the 24-h dietary recall tends to underestimate and the FFQ tends to overestimate nutrient intakes. This was especially true in this study, as portion sizes remained constant in the FFQ despite a large age range for subjects. We made an adjustment to compensate for this shortcoming, but we acknowledge its limitations for quantitative assessment. However, the adjusted FFQ measures should adequately rank subject intakes.
Although subjects were consuming more energy at the later time points, they were not meeting the established antioxidant requirements set for healthy children. With the increase in free radical exposure from ALL and the chemotherapy, it would be reasonable to assume that a child with cancer would have greater nutrient requirements.
Further studies of micronutrient intakes and plasma status and their relation to side effects over the entire treatment period in children with ALL are warranted. Future studies might include an investigation of nutritional counseling and its effect on increasing antioxidant intakes from the diet and a study of the effectiveness of antioxidant supplementation. Adding more time points for data collection during the treatment period may help to better delineate the effect of antioxidant status on side effects. Our results suggest that it would be prudent for children with ALL to receive nutritional counseling to ensure that they are meeting their needs for antioxidant nutrients.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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DDK, KLT, JB, and KMK were responsible for the study design; DDK, KLT, EDL, SRR, and KMK were responsible for the data collection; DDK, JB, and KMK were responsible for the data analysis; and DDK, KLT, EDL, SRR, JB, and KMK were responsible for writing the manuscript. None of the authors had any financial or personal conflicts of interest.
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