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While many studies have investigated the overall nutritional status of children with cancer, the status with regard to vitamin B6 has not been investigated. Vitamin B6 is an important factor in over 100 different chemical reactions within cells. It has been hypothesized by some that abnormalities in vitamin B6 metabolism could play a role in the development of cancer. For this reason, the vitamin B6 status was investigated in 37 children with leukemia and in 37 age-matched controls. The study examined the plasma levels of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), which is the biologically active form of the vitamin; it is generally believed that the circulating plasma levels of this vitamin are a fair indication of the total body store. It was found that the patients generally had significantly lower levels of PLP than the control subjects, although not all the leukemia patients were below the normal range. However, a low level of a vitamin in a cancer patient does not mean that a low level contributed to the development of the disease. While some experiments in animals have indicated that vitamin B6 deprivation can contribute to the development of cancer, there is no reason to think that the children studied in the present research were deprived prior to the development of their disease. Testing of the siblings of these patients did not reveal any abnormalities, and it seems likely that the depressed levels of vitamin B6 observed in these patients are a result of inadequate nutrition resulting from cancer, rather than a contributing cause. However, it cannot be ruled out that at least some of the observed reduction in circulating vitamin B6 may result from the increased use of the vitamin by the leukemic cells themselves. Therefore, the possibility that any supplementation of the diets of these children with vitamin B6 may actually provide the cancer cells with more of what they need to grow must be considered. More must be learned about the metabolism of vitamin B6 in leukemic children before guidelines for vitamin supplementation are developed. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)