Rasburicase Versus Allopurinol in Tumor Patients at Risk for Hyperuricemia and Tumor Lysis Syndrome

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Meets high risk or at potential risk for tumor lysis syndrome (TLS):

   A patient is at high risk for TLS if he/she presents with:

   • Hyperuricemia of malignancy (plasma uric acid > 7.5 mg/dL);
   • A diagnosis of very aggressive lymphoma/leukemia based on the Revised European-American Lymphoma (REAL) classification of lymphoma/leukemia;
   • Acute myeloid leukemia (AML);
   • Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in blast crisis; or
   • High grade myelodysplastic syndrome (refractory anemia with excess blast, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, and refractory anemia with excess blast in transformation) only if they have > 10% bone marrow blast involvement and are given aggressive treatment similar to AML.

   A patient is at potential risk for TLS if he/she presents with:

   • A diagnosis of aggressive lymphoma/leukemia based on the REAL classification of lymphoma/leukemia plus 1 or more of the following criteria:

     • Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) >= 2 x upper limit of normal (ULN) (IU/L)
     • Stage III-IV disease
     • Stage I-II disease with at least 1 lymph node/tumor > 5 cm in diameter

   In addition to the above-mentioned eligibility criteria, the patients should have the following criteria:

2. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0-3
3. Age >= 18 years
4. Life expectancy > 3 months
5. Negative pregnancy test (females of child bearing potential) and use of effective contraceptive method (for both males and females). A pregnancy test may be performed on serum or urine human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG).
6. Signed written informed consent