ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Vitamin D deficiency is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies in the world. This vitamin plays an important role in cellular functions. Studies have shown that vitamin D plays a very important role in preventing the growth of cancer cells.

Only a few studies have been done worldwide in relating the Vitamin D levels in pediatric cancer patients to the general population. The aim of this study was to compare the Vitamin D levels in a group of Children with Malignancy to that of the control group.

Materials and Methods: Considering the criteria for entering and leaving the study; all children with malignancy referred to the Oncology Clinic of the Children's Hospital of Tabriz - Iran, after describing the purpose of the study and its implementation to the parents of children, and obtaining consent Conscious letters from parents were entered in the study.

Serum levels of Ca, P, AlkP, and vitamin D were measured by immune-chemilumino-metric assay in 100children (50 cases and 50 controls) over a 12 months period.

Results: In this study, there was a significant difference between the mean values of vitamin D between the two groups (P = 0.001). The mean level of vitamin D in case and control group was 17.63 ± 4.75 and 30.05 ± 14.49 ng/ml respectively.

A significant relationship was found between the levels of vitamin D in various types of malignancy

(P = 0.001). ). It was also found that children with ALL had a greater chance (26%) and children with hepatoblastoma had the least chance (2%) for developing Vitamin D insufficiency.

Conclusion: Our study showed an increased prevalence of Vitamin D insufficiency in children with cancer and the Highest rate of incidence of the malignancy related to ALL. we suggest routine measurement of Vitamin D levels in children with cancer and subsequent supplementation

Keywords: Childhood, Malignancy, Vitamin D