Role of prostaglandins in the production of hypercalcemia by tumors.

This report summarizes the data from two animal and cell culture systems that serve as models that show how certain malignant tumors produce hypercalcemia by means of a humoral mechanism. Studies with the HSDM1 murine fibrosarcoma and the VX2 carcinoma in the rabbit have led to the conclusion that these two tumors produce hypercalcemia in the host by means of a mechanism that utilizes prostaglandin E2 as the mediator between the neoplasm and bone. Analogous or identical mechanisms may operate in a small number of human tumors.