Examining the Vitamin D Status of Children With Solid Tumors.

Plain Language Summary

Literature shows that 75% of the adult population worldwide experience vitamin D deficiency, of whom 13% fall under the category of extremely severe vitamin D deficiency (<10 ng/ml). The aim of this retrospective study was to compare the Vitamin D status of children with tumours or without. A secondary aim was to analyse the effects of vitamin D supplementation (as a complement to cancer treatment) on the vitamin D levels of children. The study included 173 children (males n=96; females n=77) aged between 0 and 18 who were treated for cancer. The control group consisted of 569 (males n=310; females n=259) children, aged 0 to 4 who received treatment at the clinic for reasons other than cancer. Results indicate that initial Vitamin D levels were significantly lower among children with cancer (19% lower than in the control group). A correlation between insufficient and deficient initial serum vitamin D levels and unfavourable prognosis was found. Authors suggest that vitamin D supplementation would be most efficient if medicine would follow the present trend of personalised therapy.