
Explore
- Uric acid >8 mg/dL (475.8 micromole/L) or 25% increase;
- Potassium >6 mEq/L (6 mmol/L) or 25% increase;
- Phosphorus >6.5 mg/dL (2.1 mmol/L) for children or >4.5 mg/dl (1.45 mmol/L) for adults or 25% increase; and
- Calcium >7 mg/dL (1.75 mmol/L) or 25% increase.
How to prevent and manage tumor lysis syndrome?
The current strategies to prevent tumor lysis syndrome are the recognition of risk factors and preventive treatment. In the USA, the standard therapy for preventing tumor lysis syndrome is hydration, alkalinization of the urine with sodium bicarbonate, and allopurinol (1–3). Allopurinol, however, only prevents the formation of uric acid and does not affect the uric acid developed prior to treatment.
How does allopurinol work in tumor lysis syndrome?
Table 2
- No specific measures
- Daily monitoring of laboratory abnormalities before and during the first 7 days of anticancer therapy
- At least twice daily monitoring of laboratory abnormalities before and during the first 7 days of anticancer therapy
How is tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) managed?
Substances
- Electrolytes
- Gout Suppressants
- rasburicase
- Uric Acid
- Allopurinol
- Creatinine
- Urate Oxidase
What are the risk factors for tumor lysis syndrome (TLS)?

Can you survive tumor lysis syndrome?
For patients that survive the initial episode of tumor lysis, the long-term prognosis remains guarded. The development of renal insufficiency may limit the ability to dose chemotherapy effectively and may limit options for bone marrow transplantation, therefore, increasing cancer mortality.
Is tumor lysis syndrome an emergency?
Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is the most common oncologic emergency. It is caused by rapid tumor cell destruction and the resulting nucleic acid degradation during or days after initiation of cytotoxic therapy.
What is a major complication of tumor lysis syndrome?
Potential complications of tumor lysis syndrome include uremia and oliguric renal failure due to tubule precipitation of uric acid, calcium phosphate, or hypoxanthine. Severe electrolyte disturbances, such as hyperkalemia and hypocalcemia, predispose patients to cardiac arrhythmia and seizures.
What is TLS medicine?
Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is an oncology emergency that occurs as a result of rapid tumor cell breakdown and the consequent release of massive amounts of intracellular contents, including potassium, phosphate, and uric acid, into the systemic circulation.
Is tumor lysis serious?
The overall risk of developing TLS is low. However, when people do develop it, it can cause serious complications, including death. If you're due to start cancer treatment, ask about your TLS risk factors and whether your doctor recommends any preventive treatment.
What happens when a tumor breaks down?
When cancer cells break down and die, they release substances into the blood. If cancer cells break down so quickly that the kidneys can't remove these substances from the blood, it can lead to tumour lysis syndrome (TLS).
How does allopurinol work in tumor lysis syndrome?
Allopurinol inhibits xanthine oxidase, the enzyme that synthesizes uric acid from hypoxanthine and xanthine, thus decreasing production and excretion of uric acid and increasing the levels of more soluble xanthine and hypoxanthine.
Can you have tumor lysis syndrome without chemo?
Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) presenting in absence of chemotherapy is a rare occurrence. One of the true oncological emergencies, it can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. TLS is a phenomena usually associated with tumor cell death after treatment.
Which complication may occur in a patient if tumor lysis syndrome delays treatment?
Hypocalcemia in tumor lysis syndrome is mostly secondary to the chelation of phosphorus. This condition is more potentially life-threatening than hyperphosphatemia. Possible complications from hypocalcemia include arrhythmia, tetany, seizure, and death.
How is TLS treated?
In general, treatment of TLS consists of intensive hydration, stimulation of diuresis, and, more specifically, in the use of allopurinol and rasburicase.
What is TLS prevention?
Prevention & Treatment To help prevent TLS, assess patients undergoing chemotherapy for risk factors at baseline and monitor them during and after the start of treatment as ordered. 1. The mainstays of preventive care are hydration and allopurinol and recombinant urate oxidase (rasburicase).
What drugs cause TLS?
Which agents may cause tumor lysis syndrome (TLS)?Paclitaxel.Fludarabine.Etoposide.Thalidomide.Bortezomib.Zoledronic acid.Hydroxyurea.Carfilzomib.More items...
What Is Tumor Lysis Syndrome?
Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is a condition that happens when cancer cells die quickly. Dying cells release large amounts of potassium, phosphate, an...
What Are The Signs and Symptoms of TLS?
1. Fatigue or confusion 2. Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea 3. Muscle weakness, cramps, or spasms 4. Tingling around your mouth or in your hands or fe...
How Can I Help Manage TLS Symptoms?
1. Increase liquids as directed. Ask your healthcare provider how much and what you should drink. 2. Limit caffeine, alcohol, aspirin, and vitamin...
When Should I Seek Immediate Care Or Call 911?
1. You have a seizure. 2. You feel your heart flutter, or beat faster or slower than normal. 3. You vomit repeatedly. 4. You have tingling around y...
What is the treatment for B cell lymphoma?
B-cell lymphoma-2 protein inhibitors, such as venetoclax (Venclexta) If fluids and medications don’t help or your kidney function continues to decline, you may need kidney dialysis. This is a type of treatment that helps to remove waste, including that from destroyed tumors, from your blood.
What are the effects of TLS?
These substances include: Potassium. High levels of potassium can lead to neurological changes and heart problems. Uric acid. Excess uric acid (hyperuricemia) can cause kidney stones and kidney damage.
What is the best medicine to stop uric acid from forming?
allopurinol (Aloprim, Lopurin, Zyloprim) to stop your body from making uric acid. rasburicase (Elitek, Fasturtec) to break down uric acid. sodium bicarbonate or acetazolamide (Diamox Sequels) to prevent uric acid from forming crystals. There are also two newer types of medications that may help as well:
What is the goal of cancer treatment?
The goal of cancer treatment is to destroy tumors. When cancerous tumors break down very quickly, your kidneys have to work extra hard to remove all the substances that were in those tumors. If they can’t keep up, you can develop something called tumor lysis syndrome (TLS).
How do you know if you have TLS?
While the symptoms of TLS are usually mild in the beginning, as the substances build up in your blood, you might experience: restlessness, irritability. weakness, fatigue. numbness, tingling. nausea, vomiting. diarrhea.
Can TLS cause cancer?
The overall risk of developing TLS is low. However, when people do develop it, it can cause serious complications, including death. If you’re due to start cancer treatment, ask about your TLS risk factors and whether your doctor recommends any preventive treatment.
Can you get TLS from chemotherapy?
Not everyone undergoing chemotherapy develops TLS. In addition, doctors have clearly identified important risk factors and usually know who has a higher risk. If you have any of the risk factors, your doctor may decide to start giving you extra IV fluids two days before your first chemotherapy treatment.
What is TLS in cancer?
When tumor cells are rapidly broken down and their contents released into the extracellular space, the released ions and compounds can cause metabolic disturbances too great to be neutralized by the body's normal mechanisms. Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is an oncology emergency that occurs as a result of rapid tumor cell breakdown and ...
How often should TLS be monitored?
Once TLS has developed, parameters such as heart rate, blood pressure, urine output, respiration rate, serum uric acid level, serum electrolyte levels, and renal function should be monitored every 6 hours for the first 24 hours. Other parameters-such as blood cell count, serum lactate dehydrogenase level, serum osmolality, blood gases, acid-base equilibrium, cardiac function (via electrocardiogram), and body weight-should be assessed every 24 hours. This monitoring can be achieved most efficiently in an ICU or on a medical oncology floor with well-trained staff. [13]
What causes renal failure in TLS?
This elevated level leads in turn to calcium phosphate salt formation and precipitation in the renal tubules. Hyperphosphatemia is usually the cause of acute renal failure in TLS, a result of the fact that prophylaxis with allopurinol has decreased the incidence of severe hyperuricemia. [21] .
What are the factors that predispose a patient to TLS?
Those at greatest risk are patients with large tumor burdens (bulky disease) that proliferate at a high rate, and those with renal insufficiency or dehydration prior to the start of therapy.
Is tumor lysis a laboratory condition?
Tumor lysis syndrome is diagnosed clinically, with the use of laboratory parameters. Most other forms of acute renal failure are associated with lower uric acid and phosphorus levels. Post-treatment tumor lysis can be distinguished from spontaneous tumor lysis by the lack of hyperphosphatemia in the latter. [25] The importance of hyperphosphatemia as a marker for TLS cannot be overemphasized. Since the advent of allopurinol, the incidence of marked hyperuricemia has declined, and hyperphosphatemia has become the principal laboratory abnormality. [26]
What happens when tumor cells are rapidly broken down?
When tumor cells are rapidly broken down and their contents released into the extracellular space, the released ions and compounds can cause metabolic disturbances too great to be neutralized by the body's normal mechanisms.
Does potassium leave tumor cells?
Potassium therefore leaves the malignant cells even prior to lysis. [19] . The second mechanism is the release of the intracellular stores of potassium into the blood upon lysis of tumor cells.
How to treat TLS?
How is TLS treated? 1 Liquids are given to help you stay hydrated and urinate more . These may be given orally or through an IV. 2 Medicines help decrease potassium and uric acid levels in your blood. Medicine may also be given to help you urinate more. 3 Dialysis may be needed to decrease potassium levels in your blood. It also helps protect your heart and kidneys.
How to lower potassium levels in blood?
Medicines help decrease potassium and uric acid levels in your blood. Medicine may also be given to help you urinate more. Dialysis may be needed to decrease potassium levels in your blood. It also helps protect your heart and kidneys.
Can you refuse treatment?
You always have the right to refuse treatment. The above information is an educational aid only. It is not intended as medical advice for individual conditions or treatments. Talk to your doctor, nurse or pharmacist before following any medical regimen to see if it is safe and effective for you.
Can TLS cause kidney failure?
This can cause heart or kidney problems and lead to kidney failure. TLS can become life-threatening if is not managed or treated. It most commonly happens after chemotherapy or radiation treatment, but may also occur after other forms of cancer treatment.
What is TLS in cancer?
TLS is a life-threatening condition with high morbidity and mortality, caused by an abrupt release of intracellular metabolites after tumor cell lysis.
What is the most serious abnormality in TLS?
Potassium is mainly intracellularly stored, and excessive tumor cell lysis may lead to hyperkalemia. Hyperkalemia is usually the first and most serious abnormality in TLS.
Is TLS a low risk disease?
More recently, increasing incidence of TLS has been reported in the era of highly effective novel anticancer agents like ibrutinib18,19and BCL-2 inhibitors20in diseases like chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), historically considered as being at low risk for developing TLS.
Is alkalinization of urine recommended for TLS?
Therefore, alkalinization of urine is not recommended in TLS prophylaxis and therapy anymore.36.
Is rasburicase contraindicated for G6PD?
Therefore, rasburicase is contraindicated in patients with G6PD deficiency.
What is tumor lysis syndrome?
Tumor lysis syndrome is the most common disease-related emergency encountered in children with newly diagnosed leukemia and lymphoma, and has been reported occasionally in children with bulky chemosensitive solid cancers (e.g., germ cell tumor, neuroblastoma).
What is TLS in medical terms?
Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) occurs when tumor cells break apart (lyse) and release their contents into the bloodstream so rapidly that normal homeostatic mechanisms cannot clear the cellular contents, which then accumulate in the bloodstream. Thus, the characteristic findings of hyperuricemia, hyperkalemia, hyperphosphatemia and hypocalcemia.
How long before anti-cancer therapy?
From 3 days before starting anti-cancer therapy until 7 days afterwards. Metabolic abnormalities. 2 or more of the abnormalities listed must be present during the same 24-hour period. Hyperuricemia. Uric acid > 8.0 mg/dL in adults or > the upper limit of normal for age in children. Hyper-phosphatemia.
Can tumor lysis be prevented?
The prognosis of patients at risk for clinical tumor lysis syndrome is excellent. If patients are risk-stratified and treated according to risk group, then most clinical tumor lysis can be prevented altogether; in the rare cases in which it occurs, patients rarely require dialysis.
Does Rasburicase lower uric acid?
Similarly, patients at high risk for tumor lysis syndrome who are treated with rasburicase to rapidly lower uric acid have a much lower incidence of renal failure than those treated with allopurinol alone.
Can TLS cause kidney failure?
The syndrome can lead to fatal cardiac dysrhythmias and acute kidney injury, so all patients potentially at risk for TLS should be closely monitored and provided with appropriate preventive measures, including intravenous fluids and rasburicase in intermediate- and high-risk cases.
Can TLS be a cancer?
Although TLS can occur in patients with any type of cancer, it is most common with hematologic cancers, especially high-grade B-cell lymphomas such as Burkitt lymphoma. Tumor lysis syndrome is defined by laboratory abnormalities (laboratory tumor lysis syndrome [.
When to use Rasburicase?
Rasburicase (recombinant urate oxidase) can be used when uric acid levels cannot be lowered sufficiently by standard approaches. [ 27, 28, 29, 30] Rasburicase is useful in cases of hyperuricemia and has been shown to be safe and effective in both pediatric and adult patients.
Can you correct hypocalcemia?
As a rule, do not correct hypocalcemia unless evidence of neuromuscular irritability exists, as indicated by a positive Chvostek or Trousseau sign. If the previously described therapies for the complications of tumor lysis syndrome fail, consider early initiation of dialysis.
Does Febuxostat help with tumor lysis?
The Febuxostat for Tumor Lysis Syndrome Prevention in Hematologic Malignancies (FLORENCE) trial found that febuxostat provided better control of serum uric acid compared with allopurinol, with comparable renal function preservation and safety profile.
Can hyperkalemia recur after dialysis?
Because hyperkalemia can recur after dialysis is initiated and because of the high phosphate burden in some patients with tumor lysis syndrome, electrolyte levels must be monitored frequently and dialysis repeated as needed. Previous. Next: Surveillance. Prevention.
Should cancer patients be treated?
If possible, cancer treatment should be withheld until all parameters are corrected. Cancer patients with acute manifestations of tumor lysis syndrome or those at high risk should be treated by personnel who are experienced with the condition’s complications and treatment.
Can you use Rasburicase for tumor lysis?
In patients with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, do not use rasburicase; treat such patients with fluids and allopurinol and monitor them carefully. Urinary alkalinization is not recommended for tumor lysis syndrome prophylaxis.
