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Topic: Hyponatremia and
Cancer
Hyponatremia is the most frequent electrolyte and body
fluid balance disturbance observed in patients with
cancer-related conditions. The incidence of hyponatremia
in malignancy may be underestimated with the
prevalence varying greatly depending on the population,
clinical setting, prevalence and type of cancer, treatment
Prof. Rossana Berardi regimen and serum sodium concentration cut-off point.
Hyponatremia is considered an unfavourable prognostic
factor in patients with cancer and the differential
Prof. Rossana Berardi, MD is Professor diagnosis may be challenging. Hyponatremia in patients
in Medical Oncology at Università
Politecnica Marche, Ancona, Italy. She with cancer is often the result of a series of symptoms/
is Director of Department of Medical factors so that standard treatment algorithms/approaches
Oncology, Director of the Postgraduate may not always be appropriate in the oncology setting.
School of Oncology, Head of “Genetic It is important that cancer therapy can commence or
Cancer” Laboratory, Deputy Director of continue without undue risk to the patient while elderly
Department of Clinical and Molecular patients and those receiving palliative care may also
Science, at Università Politecnica Marche, require special consideration. SIADH is most commonly
Ancona, Italy.
found in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC,
Dr. Berardi has been awarded many grants 11%-15%), but it has also been reported in 3% of
and prizes (among the others, several patients with head and neck cancer as well as other solid
ASCO and ESMO travel grants and merit tumors and hematological malignancies. The degree of
awards and, more recently, an Italian Oscar hyponatremia and its normalization could modify the
Prize for best researcher in oncology). outcome of hyponatremic cancer patients.
She has authored more than 200
manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals,
she has been a speaker at national and
international meetings and she has been
involved in advisory boards on GI,
neuroendocrine tumours, chest tumours,
SIADH and on clinical and translational
research.
