open access: Cancer-related hypercalcemia

Cancer-related hypercalcemia

"Hypercalcemia affects up to 10% to 30% of cancer patients, and cancer-related hypercalcemia is the leading cause of hypercalcemia in hospitalized patients.^1,2 Patients with breast cancer, lung cancer, and myeloma are most commonly affected, but hypercalcemia can also occur with other malignancies, including renal, gynecologic, and head and neck cancers.^3,4 Unfortunately, cancer-related hypercalcemia has a poor prognosis, as it is most often associated with disseminated disease. Eighty percent of patients will die within a year, and there is a median survival of 3 to 4 months.............

"There are a number of clinical features that can accompany hypercalcemia and many of them are nonspecific (eg, fatigue, nausea, constipation, and confusion). The rapidity of onset is more likely to correlate with the severity of the symptoms rather than the degree of hypercalcemia.³ Untreated severe hypercalcemia can be fatal, but treatment can bring relief of many symptoms and positively affect quality of life. Common clinical features can be general (eg, dehydration, polyuria, polydipsia), gastrointestinal (eg, nausea, vomiting, constipation, anorexia), or neurologic (eg, fatigue, delirium, myopathy). In very severe cases, patients can experience seizures, coma, or cardiovascular collapse.^1,4......