[Changes in concentrations of circulating insulin-like growth factors I and II and binding proteins BP-2 and BP-3 in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia].

Unlabelled: We determined serum levels of insulin-like growth factors (IGF-1, IGF-2) and binding proteins (IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-3) at diagnosis (I), during (II) and after therapy (III) in 28 children treated for ALL.

Results: 1) Serum absolute levels of IGF-1, IGF-2, IGFBP-3 rose and IGFBP-2 - decreased during analysis. 2) Mean values of IGF-1 SDS were similar at diagnosis, during and after treatment (-1.78+/-0.9 vs. -1.86+/-1.36 vs. -1.8+/-0.83). IGF-2 SDS rose from 0.06+/-1.45 (I) to 0.64+/-1.4 (II) and to 0.83+/- 2.01 (III) and IGFBP-3 SDS increased from -0.23+/-2.23 (I) to 0.92+/-1.95 (II) and to 1.76+/-2.43 (III). IGFBP-2 SDS were elevated at diagnosis, during and after treatment 11.94+/-9.42 (I) and 10.58+/-7.37 (II) and to 7.90+/-7.20 (III). 3) We observed positive correlations between: a) IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 at diagnosis (r=0.58 p=0.0001), during (r=0.69 p=0.0001) and after treatment (r=0.79 p=0.00001), b) IGF-1 and IGF-2 at diagnosis (r=0.57 p=0.00001) and after the end of therapy (r=0.48 p=0.01) c) IGF-2 and IGFBP-3 at diagnosis (r=0.7 p=0.0004) and after treatment (r=0.64 p=0.003) and d) negative correlation between IGF-1 and IGFBP-2 - at diagnosis (r=0.38 p=0.02) and after treatment (r=0.43 p=0.02).

Conclusions: Decreased serum IGF-1 and elevated IGFBP-2 were observed at diagnosis and during treatment for ALL suggesting that especially IGFBP-2 may be related to the proliferation of lymphoblasts.