Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2017;56(11):1345-1349.
doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.56.8545. Epub 2017 Jun 1.

Paraneoplastic Hypocalcemia Developed in Gastric Cancer Accompanied by Osteoblastic Metastasis

Jun Okazaki  1 , Naoki Muguruma  1 , Shinji Kitamura  1 , Tetsuo Kimura  1 , Koichi Okamoto  1 , Hiroshi Miyamoto  1 , Kazuhiro Kishi  2 , Yoshimi Bando  3 , Takeshi Kondo  4 , Itsuro Endo  4 , Masahiro Abe  4 , Tetsuji Takayama  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Paraneoplastic Hypocalcemia Developed in Gastric Cancer Accompanied by Osteoblastic Metastasis

Jun Okazaki et al. Intern Med. 2017.

Abstract

Paraneoplastic syndromes are generally defined as clinical disorders associated with malignant diseases, and hypocalcemia associated with cancer is a rare condition. A woman in her 60s was referred to our hospital for the further examination of massive ascites due to carcinoma of unknown primary origin. She complained of numbness around her lips, and marked hypocalcemia of 5.0 mg/dL was noted. After two courses of chemotherapy, computed tomography showed a decrease in the ascites, and her serum calcium level increased. Although hypocalcemia is a very rare condition in patients with gastric cancer, serum calcium values should be evaluated when neurological symptoms are observed.

Keywords: bone metastasis; gastric cancer; hypocalcemia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Contrast-enhanced CT showed massive ascites (a) and an abnormal bone formation adjacent to the thoracic spine (b, arrow).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Bone scintigraphy demonstrated the increased uptake of 99m-technetium diffusely throughout the skeleton, showing a ’beautiful bone scan’.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Clinical course of the case. The serum calcium level was increased and the CEA level decreased due to chemotherapy.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
EGD demonstrated a slightly depressed pale lesion with fold convergence (a). In images with indigocarmine spray (b), encroachment and swelling of the converging folds were enhanced, and narrow band imaging with magnification (c) showed irregular microvessels on the surface of the lesion. Histopathology of a biopsy specimen showed a poorly differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma (d).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kanaji N, Watanabe N, Kita N, et al. . Paraneoplastic syndromes associated with lung cancer. World J Clin Oncol 5: 197-223, 2014. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Spiro SG, Gould MK, Colice GL, American College of Chest Physicians . Initial evaluation of the patient with lung cancer: symptoms, signs, laboratory tests, and paraneoplastic syndromes: ACCP evidenced-based clinical practice guidelines (2nd edition). Chest 132 (3 Suppl): 149S-160S, 2007. - PubMed
    1. Farolfi A, Ferrario C, Aquilina M, et al. . Paraneoplastic hypocalcemia-induced heart failure in advanced breast cancer: A case report and literature review. Oncol Lett 10: 773-777, 2015. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yoshikawa K, Kitaoka H. Bone metastasis of gastric cancer. Jpn J Surg 13: 173-176, 1983. - PubMed
    1. Raskin P, McClain CJ, Medsger TA Jr. Hypocalcemia associated with metastatic bone disease. A retrospective study. Arch Intern Med 132: 539-543, 1973. - PubMed

Publication types