Elemental homeostasis in children and adolescents after completion of antitumor therapy for malignant neoplasms

Relevance. As medical research develops, more and more attention is being paid to the study of elemental changes in cancer patients not only as a marker of the disease, but also as a possible complication of the disease. The aim was to study changes in the level of essential and toxic trace elements in patients who have undergone antitumor therapy (AT) for malignant neoplasms (MN). Materials and Methods. As part of a retrospective monocenter study, a group of 214 patients from the Russian Field Medical and Rehabilitation Research Center aged 4 to 17 years was formed. All patients were in remission after the completion of antitumor treatment: 107 patients with hemoblastosis and 107 with solid tumors. The age of the participants ranged from 4.2 to 17.6 years, with an average age of 11.4 years. For a comprehensive assessment of the elemental status in children, hair and blood serum were used, measurements were carried out by mass spectrometry after mineralization of the samples. Results and Discussion. The results of the study of hair samples and blood serum showed that the elemental profile of patients after AT has both similar patterns and distinctive features depending on the histological type of tumor. Conclusions. Patients with solid tumors had a higher accumulation of toxic metals compared to samples taken from patients with tumors of the hematopoiesis organs. Nevertheless, no serious specific changes in elemental homeostasis were observed depending on the histological structure. The results obtained emphasize the importance of careful monitoring of homeostasis parameters to prevent the development of complications of antitumor therapy associated with elemental homeostasis. © Zhukovskaya E.V., Lobaeva T.A., Karelin A.F., Korobeynikova T.V., Rumyantsev A.G., Skalny A.V., 2025.