Prevalence of the Components of Metabolic Syndrome in Childhood Cancer Survivors

Shin, Hyekyung; Choi, Young Jin; Lee, Young Ho; Shin, Jeh Hoon; Yang, Seung

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Childhood cancer survivors have been reported to have an increased risk of prevalence of metabolic syndrome compared to the normal population. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of the components of metabolic syndrome in childhood cancer survivors in a single institute.
METHODS
The study included survivors who had survived for at least 5 years after off chemotherapy without evidence of recurrence. We measured body mass index (BMI), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and fasting glucose.
RESULTS
We investigated 58 childhood cancer survivors, median age 5.4 years (range, 0.1-17.2 years) at diagnosis and median follow-up time elapsed after off chemotherapy 7.4 years (range, 4.7-18.6 years). The frequency of metabolic syndrome was 3.4%. The prevalence of each component was: obesity, 17.2%; elevated TG level, 46.6%; low HDL cholesterol, 34.5%; elevated blood pressure, 1.7%; and elevated fasting glucose, 9.3%, respectively. Sixty nine percentage of survivors had at least 1 abnormal component of metabolic syndrome. The increased TG level was found more frequently in obese subjects than normal weight subjects.
CONCLUSION
We observed the high incidence of increased TG level in childhood cancer survivors. It is necessary to be closely monitored the components of metabolic syndrome in childhood cancer survivors, in order to prevent them from cardiovascular diseases and improve their health outcomes.