Case series: acute tumor lysis syndrome in mutator mice with disseminated lymphoblastic lymphoma

PM Treuting, TM Albertson… - Toxicologic …, 2010 - journals.sagepub.com
PM Treuting, TM Albertson, BD Preston
Toxicologic pathology, 2010journals.sagepub.com
Acute tumor lysis syndrome (ATLS) is characterized by severe metabolic abnormalities and
organ dysfunction resulting from rapid destruction of neoplastic cells. Metabolic disturbances
are thought to be the primary cause of clinical ATLS symptoms, which include renal
dysfunction, seizures, and cardiac arrhythmias. The histopathologic lesions associated with
organ dysfunction are largely unknown because of the low rate of mortality of ATLS in
humans and the few cases of ATLS identified in laboratory animals. Here, we describe …
Acute tumor lysis syndrome (ATLS) is characterized by severe metabolic abnormalities and organ dysfunction resulting from rapid destruction of neoplastic cells. Metabolic disturbances are thought to be the primary cause of clinical ATLS symptoms, which include renal dysfunction, seizures, and cardiac arrhythmias. The histopathologic lesions associated with organ dysfunction are largely unknown because of the low rate of mortality of ATLS in humans and the few cases of ATLS identified in laboratory animals. Here, we describe histologic, immunohistochemical, and electron microscopic analyses of thirty-one ATLS cases from a cohort of 499 mice that are prone to spontaneous lymphoblastic lymphoma owing to genetic defects in DNA replication fidelity. Seventy-three percent of our cohort died with lymphoblastic lymphoma, and 8% of affected mice died with diffuse microthromboemboli consistent with ATLS. Mice with ATLS had a high spontaneous mortality rate (>50%), a large tumor burden with disseminated disease, and evidence of leukemia. Blood vessels in the lung, kidney, and other organs were occluded by microthromboemboli composed of chromatin, cellular debris, fibrin, platelets, and entrapped erythrocytes and malignant cells. This case series suggests that ATLS can occur at high frequency in mice with disseminated lymphoblastic lymphoma and leads to a high rate of spontaneous death from microthromboemboli.
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