Calcium metabolism in cancer. Studies using calcium isotopes and immunoassays for parathyroid hormone and calcitonin.

Studies of calcium metabolism in 38 patients with cancer indicated that: 1) intestinal absorption of calcium was reduced in patients with skeletal metastases and in those with hypercalcemia; 2) calcium-47 space (a measurement of bone turnover rate) was high in the patients with skeletal metastases; 3) hypercalcemic patients had higher urinary and endogenous fecal excretion of calcium than those who were normocalcemic; 4) levels of plasma immunoreactive parathyroid hormone were similar in normo- and hypercalcemic patients, but the levels for a given serum calcium in malignant disease were lower than those in primary hyperparathyroidism; and 5) some patients had elevated calcitonin levels. Hypercalcemia complicating malignant disease is therefore not due to hyperabsorption or diminished excretion of calcium, and a low calcium diet is unlikely to benefit these patients. Measurement of 47Ca space could be of use in monitoring therapy of patients with skeletal metastases, and measurement of plasma parathyroid hormone could be useful in the differential diagnosis of hypercalcemia.