The limited screening value of insulin-like growth factor-i as a marker for alterations in body composition in very long-term adult survivors of childhood cancer

Background The clinical relevance of low IGF-I levels, caused by cranial radiotherapy, in adult childhood cancer survivors has not been studied extensively. We evaluated whether IGF-I is a useful marker for altered body composition and growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in this group. Procedure We analyzed retrospective data from 610 adult childhood cancer survivors, retrieved from the late effects clinic. Median age at diagnosis was 6 years (interquartile range 311) and follow-up time was 18 years (1324). We assessed IGF-I standard deviation scores (SDS), anthropometrical measures, growth hormone stimulation tests in patients with clinical signs of GHD, and measures of body composition (assessed by dual X-ray absorptiometry, Lunar Prodigy). Results In 58 cranially irradiated acute leukemia survivors (25 Gy (2425)) and 56 locally irradiated brain tumor survivors (42 Gy (3554)) we found significantly lower IGF-I SDS (P?