Background: Insulin resistance is considered to be of the major causes of the metabolic syndrome. There is a growing body of evidence showing that treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) has side effects.
Objective: The aim of the current work was to detect the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in survivors of childhood ALL to determine the relationship between metabolic syndrome and growth parameters in ALL survivors.
Patients and methods: This cross-sectional study included a total of twenty-four ALL survivors, attending at Pediatrics Hematology and Oncology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University Hospitals. Full clinical examination as well as laboratory investigations including estimation of serum insulin, total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDLc, LDLc, fasting plasma glucose were done for all patients.
Results: Obesity was significantly higher among metabolic syndrome (MS) cases. Patients with metabolic syndrome in ALL showed greater systolic and diastolic blood pressure than those without metabolic syndrome. It was found that children with metabolic syndrome had higher fasting plasma insulin levels and fasting plasma glucose levels than those without the syndrome. ALL patients who had metabolic syndrome had higher triglyceride levels than those without MS.
Conclusion: It could be concluded that ALL survivors are at an elevated risk for metabolic syndrome, as the increased risk for obesity and disturbed lipid profile in those patients.