Hypercalcemia from metastatic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor secreting 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D.

Journal: Journal Of Gastrointestinal Oncology
Published:
Abstract

Malignant hypercalcemia occurs in about 20-30% of patients with cancer, both solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. The secretion of parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTH-rP) is the most common cause and has been shown to be the etiology of hypercalcemia associated with neuroendocrine tumors. Here we report the case of a patient with metastatic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor who developed hypercalcemia more than 4 years after the initial diagnosis as a result of secretion of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, a mechanism only commonly seen in lymphomas. The successful control of the patient's disease with capecitabine and temozolomide led to the alleviation of this paraneoplastic syndrome.

Authors
Viola Zhu, Antonio De Las Morenas, Milos Janicek, Kevan Hartshorn