Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia and its association with adverse outcomes during induction phase of treatment.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common pediatric malignancy. Vitamin D inadequacy is now an internationally recognized health problem. Some relation has been observed between Vitamin D insufficiency and poor outcome in ALL though evidence is limited. A prospective observational study was done including children (1-15 years) with newly diagnosed ALL. Vitamin D estimation was performed at baseline and at end of induction chemotherapy. Ninety-three patients were recruited in the study. Majority of them belonged to lower socio-economic status (75.3%), and were from rural background (89.2%). Vitamin D deficiency was found in 84.95% of the study population. Seventy-five children (80.6%) completed induction, 9 (9.7%) abandoned treatment and 9 (9.7%) died during induction. Vitamin D levels were significantly low in children with ALL who died ( = 0.016), who had complications ( = 0.002), females ( = 0.036), and those with high risk ALL ( = 0.001). There was a significant drop in the Vitamin D levels ( < 0.001) from pre to post induction phase of chemotherapy. Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in patients with ALL and is also associated with adverse outcome in these children. Further studies are needed on possible benefits of vitamin D supplementation for preventing complications during treatment of ALL.