Changes in body composition of patients with acute leukemia during induction and consolidation chemotherapies

Abstract

Purpose: Malnutrition is detrimental to the treatment and prognosis of patients with acute leukemia (AL). Body composition analysis is a reliable method to monitor and assess the nutritional status of patients. However, there are few studies focusing on body composition changes of patients with AL undergoing chemotherapy.Methods: Patients who were newly-diagnosed with AL were enrolled in this study. The body composition was measured before and after induction and consolidation chemotherapies. Paired-samples T test and multiple linear regression analysis were used to compare body composition changes and explore the influencing factors.Results: After induction chemotherapy, weight, body mass index (BMI), total body water, fat free mass (FFM), skeletal muscle mass (SMM) and basal metabolic rate were significantly decreased, but fat mass (FM), percentage of body fat (PBF) and visceral fat area (VFA) were significantly increased. There were no significant changes in body composition during consolidation chemotherapy. Multivariate analysis showed that age was negatively related to declines in weight, BMI, FFM and SMM during induction chemotherapy and acute myelocytic leukemia patients dropped less in FFM and SMM and increased less in PBF and VFA, compared with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL).Conclusion: Decreased FFM and increased FM were seen in AL patients after induction chemotherapy. Conventional nutritional monitoring and timely support are very important for patients with AL during chemotherapy, especially for ALL patients.