determining serum zinc level in children with cancer before and 3 months after chemotherapy in kerman province, iran

introduction: cancer and chemotherapy could decrease serum zinc level. in this study, serum zinc level was investigated at the beginning of cancer diagnosis and 3 months after chemotherapy in children with all types of cancer. method: in this cross sectional study forty-five 1-15 year old children who were newly diagnosed cancer cases (leukemia, lymphoma and solid tumor) were evaluated. patients with previous chronic disease were excluded from the study. serum zinc level was measured before and 3 months after chemotherapy by an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. the relationship between serum zn level and malnutrition was also evaluated in both steps. results: the mean serum zn level was 37.26±45.02 μg/dl at the beginning of cancer diagnosis and 11.96±24.59 μg/ dl 3 months after chemotherapy (p-value=0.002), which showed a significant statistical reduction. there was no significant statistical difference in zinc level between groups in regard to age, gender, place of resident and type of cancer. conclusion: this study indicated that zinc level was lower than normal before chemotherapy and further decrease was seen after chemotherapy in all types of cancer among participating patients. therefore, it is recommended to add zinc supplement to chemotherapy protocols especially for malnourished patients. keywords: children, cancer, zinc, chemotherapy, malnutrition.