Bortezomib Is a Risk Factor for Tumor Lysis Syndrome in Male Patients with MM

Bortezomib-containing treatment regimens for multiple myeloma (MM) are associated with an increased risk for tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) in male patients, according to a study published in BMC Cancer.

Researchers retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients who received primary therapy for treatment-naïve, symptomatic MM between May 2007 and January 2018 at Nagoya City University Hospital in Japan. The researchers assessed incidences of laboratory and clinical TLS.

This study included 210 patients with MM, most of whom (60%) were aged ≥65 years; about half of participants were men. In the cohort, 10 patients (4.8%) had laboratory TLS and seven (3.3%) had clinical TLS. The characteristics of the administered anti-cancer or prophylactic anti-hyperuricemic agents were similar between patients with and without TLS.

Multivariate analyses found that TLS was most strongly associated with bortezomib-containing therapy (odds ratio [OR], 3.40; P=0.069), followed by male sex (OR, 2.29; P=0.153). In a subgroup analysis of men, treatment with bortezomib-containing therapy was significantly associated with increased risk of TLS (OR, 8.51; P=0.046).

“TLS risk should be evaluated further in low-risk diseases such as MM, since a significant number of novel therapies can achieve high anti-tumor responses,” the researchers concluded.