Introduction: Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia are often malnourished and may have multiple nutritional deficiencies. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of vitamin E, Vitamin B12 and folate deficiency in childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) survivors who had received vincristine-based chemotherapy with and without neuropathy.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in a tertiary care centre of north India from October 2011 to July 2012. Children with Acute lymphoblastic leukemia aged between 5 to 18 years in first continuous remission within 3 years of completion of vincristine-based chemotherapy were enrolled. After informed consent, the enrolled children underwent detailed clinical examination and review of their clinic files. This was followed by detailed nerve conduction studies. Subsequently, 4 ml of blood sample was withdrawn and analyzed for serum α tocopherol, serum cholesterol and triglycerides, serum vitamin B12 and folate levels.

Results: 80 children were studied. The mean age at the time of evaluation was 11.2 years (SD: 4; Range: 1.5-16 years). The neuropathy was seen in 27 (33.75%) children electrophysiologically. None of the children had vitamin E deficiency. However, the alpha-tocopherol/(cholesterol + triglyceride) ratio was significantly lower in children with neuropathy (p=0.05). The prevalence of folate (p=0.48) and vitamin B12 (p=0.21) deficiency in children with and without neuropathy was not significantly different.

Conclusions: The prevalence of deficiencies of these micronutrients was not significantly different in children with or without neuropathy. However, larger studies are warranted to study the contribution of micronutrient deficiency towards development of neuropathy in ALL survivors.