Effect of salmon calcitonin and etidronate on hypercalcemia of malignancy
- PMID: 1571826
- DOI: 10.1007/BF00298784
Effect of salmon calcitonin and etidronate on hypercalcemia of malignancy
Abstract
Hypercalcemia of malignancy is a commonly encountered serious clinical problem that often requires aggressive therapy. In order to combine the rapid hypocalcemic effects of calcitonin with the more delayed effect of a bisphosphonate, we administered etidronate, 7.5 mg/kg/day intravenously and salmon calcitonin, 100 IU subcutaneously, every 12 hours for 3 days in 9 patients with hypercalcemia associated with malignancy. The mean serum calcium concentration fell from 3.33 +/- 0.1 mmol/liter (mean +/- SEM) to 2.88 +/- 0.1 mmol/liter within 24 hours (P less than 0.001). All patients had a fall in the serum calcium concentration of greater than 0.5 mmol/liter and it returned to normal in 7 of the 9 patients. We conclude that the combination of salmon calcitonin with etidronate more effectively lowers the serum calcium concentration in patients with hypercalcemia of malignancy then the use of either agent alone.
Comment in
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A combination of calcitonin and bisphosphonate for the emergency treatment of severe tumor-induced hypercalcemia.Calcif Tissue Int. 1993 Jan;52(1):70-1. doi: 10.1007/BF00675630. Calcif Tissue Int. 1993. PMID: 8453509 No abstract available.