Abstract
Purpose: To assess the prevalence and severity of
transfusion-associated iron overload in survivors of childhood cancer.
Patients and Methods: Serum iron, total iron binding capacity,
percent iron saturation and ferritin were measured in 75 survivors of
childhood cancer. In addition, blood bank records were reviewed to
determine the volume of packed red blood cells (pRBCs) administered
during cancer therapy. Patients who received > 120ml/kg
of pRBCs or had a ferritin > 1,000mcg/L underwent hepatic
R2 and cardiac T2* MRI for iron quantification, echocardiogram,
assessment of liver and endocrine function, and genetic analysis for
hereditary hemochromatosis. Results: Forty-nine patients
qualified for second level studies. Of these, 35 completed the MRI
scans. Fifteen patients had a liver iron concentration (LIC)
>3mg iron/g (moderate hepatic iron overload), including eight
patients who had an LIC greater than 7 mg iron/g (severe hepatic iron
overload), with a mean LIC of 4.3 mg iron/g (0-15.6mg iron/g). LIC
correlated with both total volume of pRBCs and ferritin. No patient had
cardiac iron loading by MRI. Eleven patients were heterozygous and one
was homozygous for mutations associated with hereditary hemochromatosis.
There was no correlation between iron overload and hereditary
hemochromatosis gene status. Conclusion: There is a high
prevalence of transfusion-associated iron overload among survivors of
childhood cancer. This is concerning given the overlap between organ
toxicities associated with cancer treatment and those known to be
associated with iron overload. The tight correlation between LIC and
ferritin suggests ferritin may be a reliable indicator of iron load in
this patient population.