Tumor lysis syndrome causes
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Nazia Fuad M.D.
Overview
Overview
Development of tumor lysis syndrome is the result of initiation of chemotherapy or radiotherapy in cancer patients. The most common causes of tumor lysis syndrome are Burkitt’s lymphoma, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia and chemotherapy including methotrexate. Sometimes it can occur spontaneously without administration of treatment primarily in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) or acute leukemia.
Causes
Causes
Common Causes
The most common causes of tumor lysis syndrome are:[1][2]
- Burkitt’s lymphoma
- Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
- Acute myeloid leukemia
- Chemotherapy including methotrexate
Less common causes
- Solid tumor
- Myeloma
- Chronic myeloid leukemia CML
- CLL chronic lymphocytic leukemia
- Hodgkin lymphoma
- Small lymphocytic lymphoma
- Marginal zone B cell
- MALT
- Nonblastoid mantle cell
- Cutaneous T cell
- Adult T-cell leukemia
Causes by Organ System
| Cardiovascular | No underlying causes |
| Chemical/Poisoning | No underlying causes |
| Dental | No underlying causes |
| Dermatologic | No underlying causes |
| Drug Side Effect |
Bortezomib, Carfilzomib, Cytarabine, cytotoxic chemotherapy, Doxorubicin Hydrochloride etoposide, fludarabine, glucocorticoids, hydroxyurea, Ibrutinib, imatinib, lenalidomide , Nelarabine, Nilotinib, Ofatumumab, paclitaxel, Pralatrexate, rituximab, thalidomide, Vincristine sulfate liposome zoledronic acid |
| Ear Nose Throat | No underlying causes |
| Endocrine | No underlying causes |
| Environmental | No underlying causes |
| Gastroenterologic | No underlying causes |
| Genetic | No underlying causes |
| Hematologic | No underlying causes |
| Iatrogenic | No underlying causes |
| Infectious Disease | No underlying causes |
| Musculoskeletal/Orthopedic | No underlying causes |
| Neurologic | No underlying causes |
| Nutritional/Metabolic | No underlying causes |
| Obstetric/Gynecologic | No underlying causes |
| Oncologic |
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia , acute myeloid leukemia, adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma , anaplastic large cell lymphoma, breast cancer , Burkitt’s lymphoma, chronic myeloid leukemia, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, germ cell tumors , hepatoblastoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, hodgkin’s disease, isolated plasmacytomas, mantle cell lymphoma, medulloblastoma, melanoma, metastatic colorectal cancer , multiple myeloma, neuroblastoma, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, ovarian cancer , rhabdomyosarcoma, sarcoma, small cell lung cancer, squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva, thalidomide, transformed lymphoma, urothelial cancer |
| Ophthalmologic | No underlying causes |
| Overdose/Toxicity | |
| Psychiatric | No underlying causes |
| Pulmonary | No underlying causes |
| Renal/Electrolyte | |
| Rheumatology/Immunology/Allergy |
No underlying causes|- |
| Sexual | No underlying causes |
| Trauma | No underlying causes |
| Urologic | No underlying causes |
| Miscellaneous | No underlying causes |
Causes by Alphabetical Order
References
References
- ↑ “www.asn-online.org” (PDF).
- ↑ Howard SC, Jones DP, Pui CH (May 2011). “The tumor lysis syndrome”. N. Engl. J. Med. 364 (19): 1844–54. doi:10.1056/NEJMra0904569. PMC 3437249. PMID 21561350.
Looking for the patient version?
© 2026 MyEClinic – IFTM Institut für Telematik in der Medizin GmbH