Calcijex Injection (Calcitrol) Drug Information: Warnings and Precautions - (Calcitriol/Vitamin D/Hypercalcemia)

Calcijex Injection (Calcitrol) Drug Information: Warnings and Precautions - Prescribing Information at RxList

WARNINGS

Since calcitriol is the most potent metabolite of vitamin D available, prescription-based doses of vitamin D and its derivatives should be withheld or used with caution during treatment to avoid the risk of hypercalcemia.
A non-aluminum phosphate-binding compound should be used to control serum phosphorus levels in patients undergoing dialysis.
Overdosage of any form of vitamin D is dangerous (see also OVERDOSAGE).

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......

abstract: Small cell carcinoma of the ovary of hypercalcemic type: a case report

Small cell carcinoma of the ovary of hypercalcemic type: a case report

 Abstract

The authors report a case of small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type (SCCOHT), in a mother and daughter and discuss the possibility of a heritable risk.

Both mother and daughter were treated at the same institution (Kentucky)  for SCCOHT.

A 23-year-old woman presented with hypercalcemia 4 months after giving birth to her daughter. She was diagnosed as having SCCOHT. Despite surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, she died of the disease 11 months after diagnosis.

Eleven years later, her daughter presented with a histologically and immunophenotypically identical SCCOHT tumor. She received postoperative chemotherapy and radiation but, eventually, relapsed and died of the disease at 27 months after the initial diagnosis.  

Small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type, is an uncommon and aggressive malignancy that occurs in young women, which is associated with a solid ovarian tumor and hypercalcemia. Despite aggressive multimodality treatment, most patients die within 2 years of diagnosis. Genetic counseling, sonographic ovarian surveillance and serum calcium monitoring at early age, and even prophylactic oophorectomy should be considered for surviving at-risk family members.