Assessment of Baseline Nutritional Status, Vitamin B12, and Folate Levels in Patients with Acute Leukemia and Their Effect on Initial Treatment Outcome: A Prospective Observational Study

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Poor nutrition is a common finding in patients with acute leukemia, affecting disease progression, treatment outcome, and survival. Overall nutritional status and micronutrients status evaluation may be an important step in management of acute leukemia. Objective The objective of this study was to investigate baseline nutritional status, vitamin B12, and folate levels in patients with acute leukemia at the time of admission before starting chemotherapy and their initial treatment outcome. Materials and Methods This was a prospective observational study. We assessed the pretreatment nutritional status of 73 patients by body mass index (BMI), serum vitamin B12 using a two-step chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay, and serum folate using electrochemiluminescence by Cobas e411 analyzer before initiation of induction chemotherapy and evaluated for treatment response at the end of induction chemotherapy. Results Out of a total of 73 patients, 51 (69.8%) completed induction chemotherapy, 36 (49.3%) showed complete remission, and 15 (20.5%) were in incomplete remission. Of the remaining 22 (30.1%) patients, 11 (15.1%) died due to toxicity during therapy. The mean values of baseline BMI, serum vitamin B12, and folate was 20.46 kg/m2, 956.04, and 13.52 ng/mL, respectively. There was no significant association between vitamin B12 (p-value = 0.609) and folate (p-value = 0.404) deficiency and the response to treatment. Conclusion Baseline nutritional status, serum vitamin B12, and folate levels have no significant role in induction outcome in response to treatment, including mortality in patients with acute leukemia.