[Tumour lysis syndrome in small-cell lung cancer]
R C Boshuizen1, A A J Smit, A Moons-Pasic
1Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis, afd. Longziekten, Amsterdam.
Background:
Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a rapidly proliferating malignancy. Dramatic response to chemotherapy can therefore be expected. Unfortunately, tumour lysis prophylaxis is not mentioned in the current Dutch guidelines on SCLC treatment.
Case Description:
A 64-year-old female was diagnosed with extensive SCLC and metastases. Shortly after diagnosis, chemotherapy was initiated. Based on Dutch guidelines, no tumour lysis prophylaxis was given. In addition to paraplegia, the patient also developed a clinical tumour lysis syndrome (TLS), and she passed away 5 days after start of treatment.
Conclusion:
Although tumour lysis prophylaxis is not mentioned in SCLC guidelines, tumour lysis in SCLC can occur as reported previously. Retrospectively, based on parameters applied to haematological malignancies, our patient was assessed as being at high risk of developing TLS.
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