Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40481403›Full record

ArticleBMC pediatrics2025

Effect of nutritional screening in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia undergoing the maintenance chemotherapy.

Xuefen Zhao, Juan Wang, Li Chen, Xin Xu, Caihong Fu

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC pediatrics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Progressive deterioration in dietary intake and nutritional risk during oncological treatment in children with solid tumors: a prospective longitudinal study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Xuefen Zhao *Department of Hematology, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No. 72 Guangzhou Road, Gulou District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, 210000, China.
Juan Wang *Department of Hematology, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No. 72 Guangzhou Road, Gulou District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, 210000, China.
Li ChenDepartment of Hematology, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No. 72 Guangzhou Road, Gulou District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, 210000, China.
Xin Xu *Department of Hematology, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No. 72 Guangzhou Road, Gulou District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, 210000, China.
Caihong Fu *Department of Hematology, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No. 72 Guangzhou Road, Gulou District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, 210000, China. Fucaihongvip@yeah.net.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTo investigate the effectiveness of the routine nutritional screening for malnutrition risk in hospitalized children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) on maintenance chemotherapy from the viewpoint of clinical outcomes.

methodsThe reviews of 1038 pediatric patients were retrieved for the retrospective, propensity score-matched, superiority study. A 1:1 propensity score matching was utilized to match patients who received nutritional screening (screening cohort) to those who remained usual care without screening (control cohort). The primary endpoint was the long-term event-free-survival (EFS) after the last cycle of maintenance. Secondary outcomes included immune function, complications and long-term quality-adjusted life years (QALYs).

resultsThe proportion of cases with risk of malnutrition in screening was 25.8%. At the end of 4 weeks following the last cycle, the level of serum albumin was higher in screening cohort than control cohort (p < 0.001), while the cellular immune function significantly improved in screening cohort (all p < 0.05). During a mean of 11.09 ± 6.45 months follow-up, 28.6% of patients in screening cohort had an event including ALL-related emergency visits, readmitted hospitalizations and severe infections compared to 46.5% of cases in control cohort yielding a hazard ratio of 0.397 (95%CI: 0.306, 0.493 and a significant difference in long-term EFS (24.07 (95%CI: 23.09, 25.04) vs. 18.02 (95%CI: 16.62, 19.42), log-rank p < 0.001). The means of QALYs calculated by area under the curve up to 3, 6, 12 and 24 months after discharge were significantly lower in screening cohort as opposed to control cohort (all p < 0.05).

conclusionsPediatric ALL receiving the specific-for-children nutritional screening during hospitalization exhibited a better EFS over the 24-month follow-up than cases without screening. The benefit accounted for a significant improvement in immune function and QALYs scores over long-term follow-up. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.

Indexed as

Maintenance ChemotherapyMalnutritionNutrition AssessmentPrecursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-LymphomaAdolescentChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfantMaleNutritional StatusPropensity ScoreQuality-Adjusted Life YearsRetrospective StudiesAcute lymphoblastic leukemiaEvent-free-survivalInfectionNutritional screeningQuality-adjusted life yearsReadmission

Identifiers

PMID40481403
PMCPMC12144713

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.