Ischemia-modified albumin as a biochemical marker in children with neuroblastoma and soft tissue sarcomas

In this study, the levels of ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) in pediatric oncology patients with soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) and neuroblastoma (NB) were analyzed. To date, there have been no studies concerning IMA in these groups of patients. Ninety-nine children with STSs and NB were analyzed from 2006 to 2009, and 30 healthy children were also enrolled in the study. IMA levels were measured throughout treatment in all patients. The levels of IMA in all cancer patients (mean 116.8±39.3 U/ml), in patients with STSs (mean 119.8±27.5 U/ml), and in patients with NB (mean 114.6±36.6 U/ml) were significantly higher than in the control patients (mean 87.3±38.3 U/ml; P=0.0013, 0.0066, and 0.0164, respectively). IMA levels increased before and during the treatment compared with levels in the controls. The determination of IMA levels in pediatric oncology patients with poor prognoses from STSs and NB may play an important role in predicting response to therapy and overall outcome.