One limitation of the guidelines is that the evidencebased
medical interventions for the prevention and management
of TLS presented here are mainly based on
small-scale research efforts. Although the evidence-based
guidelines are based on articles recently published and
reviewed by international panels of clinical oncologists
representing expertise in pediatric and adult hematologic
malignancies and in TLS management, most of the recommendations
are based on case reports or clinical examples,
with little or no systematic empirical evidence.
Another limitation is that there is a lack of high-quality
evidence to support the routine use of rasburicase in children
with malignancies (Cheuk et al., 2010). Further
high-quality randomized controlled trials with larger
sample sizes are needed to assess the effectiveness of rasburicase
in children, especially for those high-risk
patients who are more likely to benefit (Cheuk et al.,
2010). Additionally, most of the nursing interventions for
the prevention and management of TLS that are described
in the guidelines come from case reports and experts’
opinions. There is an imperative need for high-level published
guidelines on the subject of TLS. In particular,
well-designed and controlled studies are necessary to better
define the risks and determine the optimal prophylactic
treatments and interventions for the management of
TLS.