Premium
Nutrition and acute leukemia in adults
Author(s) -
Eriksson Karin M.,
Cederholm Tommy,
Palmblad Jan E. W.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0142(19980315)82:6<1071::aid-cncr9>3.0.co;2-h
Subject(s) - hypoalbuminemia , medicine , neutropenia , weight loss , gastroenterology , serum albumin , parenteral nutrition , acute leukemia , incidence (geometry) , leukemia , diarrhea , albumin , chemotherapy , obesity , physics , optics
BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to determine whether nutritional state was related to infectious complications in adult patients with acute leukemia. METHODS During first‐remission induction therapy (mean, 71 days), the duration of neutropenia, various infections, and fevers were related to changes in body weight and serum albumin concentrations as well as total parenteral nutrition (TPN) in 52 patients receiving standardized anti‐infectious treatment. RESULTS Severe neutropenia prevailed for 27% and fever for 28% of the induction period. A mean weight loss of 5.1 kg, corresponding to a reduction of body mass index from 23.5 to 21.7, was correlated with the number of days that patients had fever ( P = 0.026). Despite a normal serum albumin value at the time of admission, patients had severe hypoalbuminemia (<25 g/L) during 16% of the induction period. The drop in serum albumin was independently related to the weight loss (r = 0.37, P = 0.03). Moreover, the incidence and duration of hypoalbuminemia were significantly correlated with duration of fever ( P < 0.0001), diarrhea ( P = 0.03), and TPN administration ( P = 0.00002). CONCLUSIONS Weight loss and severe hypoalbuminemia were common during remission induction for these adult patients with acute leukemia and were closely related to the patients' infections. Cancer 1998;82:1071‐7. © 1998 American Cancer Society.