Mechanisms of hypercalcemia in malignancy.

Various hormones have been implicated in the genesis of hypercalcemia in patients with malignancy. Ectopic secretion of PTH by tumor has been documented in only a few patients; rather, elevated levels of circulating iPTH have been presumed to reflect tumor production of hormone in most patients. Small fragments of PTH, as well as polypeptides larger than native PTH, have been described; their biological roles are unclear. The pattern of immunoreactivity, however, has been used to differentiate patients with ectopic hyperparathyroidism from patients with concomitant primary hyperparathyroidism. Vitamin D-like sterols produced by breast cancer seldom reach plasma levels necessary for physiological effects. Members of the prostaglandin family have been proposed to induce hypercalcemia through osteoclast activation or alteration of the immune system and also to affect the frequency of bone metastases. At present, no direct evidence is available to prove a direct role for these effects and prostaglandins are most useful as possible indicators of disease activity.