A Retrospective Review of Tumor Lysis Syndrome Associated With Colorectal Cancer

Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is a life-threatening oncologic condition that is most commonly linked with hematologic malignancies and uncommonly seen in solid tumors, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Therefore, a lack of awareness regarding TLS in CRC could lead to significant morbidity and mortality. This study aims to explore the clinical characteristics and outcomes of TLS in patients with CRC. A systematic review of the literature was performed by searching PubMed using the keywords “tumor lysis syndrome” and “colorectal cancer”. The English-language case reports and abstracts that the search results yielded were reviewed, and additional articles of interest were identified from reference lists. Information regarding the patients (age at diagnosis, presentation, and comorbidities), the tumors (histology, grade, and stage), radiologic investigations, treatment modalities (surgery, radiation, and systemic therapy), and the outcomes (response, adverse events) were recorded, when available. Descriptive statistics, such as frequency counts, medians, and ranges, were used to characterize the pooled sample. Nine case reports of TLS in CRC were identified in the literature; one additional case was added from our patient database. The median age of these patients was 58.5 years (range: 42-82 years) with 70% of these patients being male. Of note, 100% of these patients had metastatic colon cancer and 80% had metastatic involvement of the liver; 70% of these cases were associated with therapy-induced TLS with the median time-to-event being three days (range: 18 hours-30 days) after receiving chemotherapy. When looking at laboratory parameters, uric acid and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were consistently elevated in all the cases, but 50% of the cases had hyperkalemia and 50% had hyperphosphatemia. Treatment of TLS included supportive measures with IV hydration. Five out of 10 patients received urate oxidase and only one underwent hemodialysis. The overall mortality was 60%. TLS can occur with CRCs that demonstrate a high tumor burden. While most cases are associated with therapy, some cases are spontaneous in nature. Keeping in mind the high mortality associated with TLS, physicians should have a high degree of suspicion and should be aware of the fatal complications associated with TLS. Timely implementation of prophylactic and therapeutic measures including IV hydration as well as the use of xanthine oxidase inhibitors such as allopurinol can be life-saving in these cases.