Impact of malnutrition on the pharmacokinetics of chemotherapy in
children with cancer: a systematic review
Abstract
Objectives This systematic review provides an overview of the
effect of malnutrition on the pharmacokinetics of chemotherapy in
children with cancer. Methods PubMed, Embase and Cochrane were
searched to identify eligible studies. Malnutrition was referred to as
undernutrition, as defined by the World Health Organisation and the
Gomez Criteria. Results Four studies with a total of 668 children
with cancer were included and n=121 (18%) were malnourished. In
vincristine, the differences in pharmacokinetic parameters were
statistically significant where clearance rates were commonly lower and
area under the curve was increased in malnourished children.
Conclusion The results are suggestive for pharmacokinetic
alterations of chemotherapy in malnourished children with cancer.
However, the data is scarce, groups are small, and most studies have
been performed in high-income countries. Pharmacokinetic research among
(severely) malnourished children with cancer is needed in order to
improve their outcome, directed by sub-group and ultimately
individualized drug dosing.