[Metabolic emergencies in critically ill cancer patients]

Severe metabolic alterations frequently occur in critically ill cancer patients; hypercalcemia, hypocalcemia, hyponatremia, tumor lysis syndrome, metabolic complications of renal failure and lactic acidosis. Cancer patients with metabolic emergencies should be treated in a medical oncology department or an intensive care unit. Most metabolic emergencies can be treated properly when they are identified early. The clinician should consider that the prognosis of critically ill cancer patients depends on their primary disease, comorbidities and organ failure.