Abstract
To improve prognosis and outcome of children suffering from ALL, radiotherapy has become an important part of cancer therapy. We studied the long-term effects of cranial irradiation on pineal function regarding diurnal fluctuations of its hormone melatonin (MLT). Patients: 23 pat. following previous treatment for acute lymphatic leukemia were investigated. Chronological age was 12.9 ± 1.4 years (5D). lime since therapy was 5.3 ± 1.9 years (SD) 5 age-matched children without evidence of endocrine disorders served as controls. MLT plasma determinations were done according to (1) with slight modifications improving specificity and sensitivity.
Results: Concerning pineal secretory function all children following radiotherapy showed normal circadian MLT secretion with basic levels between 6-15 mg/ml during the daytime and peaklevels up to 65 pg/ml during the night. These values are in total agreement with the diurnal fluctuation of MLT secretion in the controlgroup.
Conclusion: Cranial irradiation and chemotherapy does not effect pineal secretory capacity concerning the MLT circadian rhythm which seems to be remarkable stable.
(1) J.C.Cornmentz et al.: Acta endocrinol Suppl 240,96( 1981), 108 This study was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, SFB 34
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Commentz, J., Haupt, P., Stahnke, N. et al. 61 CRANIAL IRRADIATION THERAPY IN ACUTE LYMPHATIC LEUKEMIA HAS NO LONG-TERM EFFECT ON MELATONIN SECRETION. Pediatr Res 24, 527 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198810000-00082
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198810000-00082