Small cell carcinoma of the ovary with hypercalcemia: a report of eleven cases.

Eleven cases of a small cell ovarian cancer associated with hypercalcemia that was reversed by removal of the tumor are reported and compared with three similar cases in the literature. The 14 cases account for 50% of recorded cases of ovarian-cancer-related hypercalcemia. The 14 tumors occurred in women between the age of 13 and 35, with an average of 22 years and, with two exceptions, behaved clinically in an aggressive fashion. Light and electron microscopic study confirmed the epithelial nature of the neoplasms but failed to disclose their specific subtype or origin.