Treatment of hypercalcaemic syndrome in tumour patients, especially with mithramycin

Abstract

In 36 patients with neoplastic diseases 72 episodes of hypercalcaemia with serum-calcium levels greater than or equal to 2.75 mmol/l were treated (19 breast carcinoma; 9 bronchial or lung carcinoma; 5 multiple myeloma; 1 each jejunal carcinoid, malignant lymphoma, phaeochromocytoma). Cardinal symptoms were mental, neuromuscular and renal during the hypercalcaemic episodes. Mithramycin is preferred to other methods (infusion of sodium chloride and frusemide, prednisone, sodium-potassium-phosphate infusion) of treating acute or subacute hypercalcaemia. Mithramycin in a single injection of 20-25 microgram/kg body-weight intravenously is usually sufficient to counteract a hypercalcaemic phase for at least 7-10 days, often much longer. There was a highly significant fall in serum-calcium levels from two days onwards after mithramycin injection. Toxic side-effects were minimal and restricted to transitory increase in transaminase levels, initially 5-6 times normal with a maximum on the third day and normalisation on the fifth day after mithramycin administration.