Abstract

Assessment of Serum Ferritin Levels in Sudanese Patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common childhood malignancy. Although there are known increase in serum ferritin with many forms of malignancy, the pattern of elevation with different stages of ALL have not yet been elucidated. Objectives: To assess serum ferritin, uric acid, and LDH in Sudanese patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Materials and Methods: This is a case-control study conducted in Khartoum state, Sudan during the period from May 2018 to November 2018. A total of 160 subjects were enrolled in this study, 80 patients of ALL as cases; and gender-matched, 80 healthy subjects as controls. All tests result were statistically analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Results: This study included 160 subjects, 80 patients with ALL among which 42 subjects (52.5%) were males and the reminder 38 subjects (47.5%) were females. The mean age of the cases group was 17.6 ± 5.6 years old. The control group included 80 healthy subjects which were matched in age (17.8 ± 12.1) and gender (52.5% males, 47.5% females) with the cases group. Among ALL patients, statistically significant positive correlations were observed between number of blast cells serum ferritin level (r=0.735, p<0.0001), uric acid (r=0.618, p<0.0001) and LDH (r=0.570, p<0.0001). Conclusions: ALL was associated with elevated serum ferritin levels. The level of serum ferritin was significantly correlated with various stages of the disease and had a positive linear correlation with serum uric acid, LDH, and blast count, therefore determination of serum ferritin could be used as ALL prognostic markers.

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