Progress of hyponatremia treatment in cancer patients

Abstract

Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte abnormality in cancer patients, which is usually related to the syndromes of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH). Despite not frequent life-threatening, it mostly causes prolonged hospitalization, delaying in scheduled chemotherapy, reducing of the efficacy, worsening of patients' prognosis and quality of life. The optimal treatment strategy should be chosen based on the severity and the onset time of the symptoms in clinic. Hypertonic saline solution is appropriate for acute, symptomatic patients with hyponatremia caused by SIADH, nevertheless fluid restriction is advised to chronic symptomless hyponatremia which recommends correcting at a slower rate. When fluid restriction is limited, pharmacological therapy should be a necessary choice. This review summarizes the recent progress of hyponatremia in international guidelines and discusses the defect of hyponatremia managements and the research prospect in the future. Key words: Neoplasms; Hyponatremia; Inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion; Treatment