[Use of calcitonin in neoplastic osteolysis].

Forty patients with various neoplasias and radiological and scintigraphic evidence of multiple osteolytic lesions were studied between March 1979 and December 1981 at the Savona Oncology Service. All of them were treated with chemo and/or hormone therapy, plus 100 UMRC salmon calcitonin a day for 20 days a month until a clinical improvement was observed. The parameters for evaluation were: radiography and scintigraphy of the skeletal segment involved, blood calcium, alkaline phosphatase, intensity of pain, and restriction of function. An assessment was made before and after calcitonin management. Blood calcium fell in all cases even in the range of those initially normal. Alkaline phosphatase decreased in 83.3% and pain disappeared or was less severe in 87.50%. Good results were also observed with regard to restriction of function. Good recalcification of some osteolytic lesions was noted in 7 cases (17.5%). Calcitonin thus proved effective in the correction or prevention of damage caused by hypercalcaemia, and was particularly useful in the reduction of pain and functional damage. Its analgesic effect often appeared at an early stage.