Article Text
Abstract
Hypercalcaemia in malignancy is most commonly caused by paraneoplastic secretion of parathyroid hormone-related protein or osteolytic metastases. Very rarely (<1% of cases), the mechanism behind increased serum calcium is increased production of calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D) and even rarer is the occurrence of this phenomenon in solid malignancies, with few such instances reported in the literature. We present a case of a neuroendocrine malignancy originating in the oesophagus associated with calcitriol-induced hypercalcaemia, a phenomenon that has not been previously described. We review the pathophysiology of calcitriol-induced hypercalcaemia and previously reported cases of solid tumours with this presentation.
- calcium and bone
- oesophageal cancer
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Footnotes
Contributors FI: drafting and editing of the manuscript and review of literature. IP and MM: drafting and editing of the manuscript.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Next of kin consent obtained.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.