Vitamin D status in paediatric patients with cancer

Background Children with malignant disease are at increased risk of bone disorders and cardiovascular disease. Vitamin D status may influence this risk and so we assessed vitamin D levels in children with malignant disease undergoing active treatment or surveillance post‐therapy. Procedure This was an outpatient‐based cross‐sectional study of 61 children with a history of malignancy (median age 11.1 years; range 1.5–24.4 years) and 60 control subjects (median age 8.4 years; range 0.2–18.0 years) attending hospital for the management of non‐malignant disorders. Serum vitamin D (25‐OH‐D), parathormone levels and bone biochemistry were determined. Vitamin D status and its relationship to age, sex, ethnicity, time of sampling and presence of malignant disease was determined. Results Vitamin D status was suboptimal in 62% of cases (25‐OH‐D < 50 nmol/L [20 ng/ml]). Vitamin D deficiency (25‐OH‐D < 25 nmol/L [10 ng/ml]) was more common in children with malignant disease than controls (21.3% vs. 3.3%; P  = 0.013). Month of sampling ( P  < 0.001), ethnicity ( P  < 0.001), older age ( P  = 0.011), and history of malignancy ( P  = 0.012) were associated with a poorer vitamin D status. Conclusions Vitamin D levels [25‐OH‐D] are lower in survivors of childhood cancer in comparison to control children with the majority either insufficient or deficient. Assessment and adequate replacement of vitamin D status may be of particular value in this group of children. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2011; 57: 594–598. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.