Alteration in lipid profile in patients of chronic myeloid leukemia before and after chemotherapy

BackgroundChronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative disorder of pleuripotent hematopoietic progenitor cells characterized by excessive proliferation and accumulation of granulocytes and occasionally red blood cells and platelets.MethodsWe examined 30 newly diagnosed and proved cases of CML admitted in medical wards or attending a clinical hematology clinic. In addition to routine hematological investigations, lipid profile was done in all the patients at the time of presentation, 4–6 weeks after the start of chemotherapy and 6 months after the chemotherapy even if some of the patients were not in remission.ResultsTotal serum cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol concentrations increased significantly after chemotherapy whereas serum triglyceride and VLDL-C cholesterol concentrations did not increase significantly. Also, lipid concentrations were correlated with disease activity. An inverse correlation was found with spleen size and total serum cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol. Serum triglyceride and VLDL-C concentrations were inversely related to the hemoglobin concentrations. There was no correlation of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol concentrations with hemoglobin. We found from the present study that low lipid concentrations are associated with poor prognosis of the disease.ConclusionWe suggest that the estimation of lipid profile may be helpful in evaluating the response to chemotherapy in CML patients.