Abstract
Humoral hypercalcemia can arise from a variety of malignancies, but its association with primary colorectal carcinoma is rare, with only 20 such cases documented in the English-language literature to date. We report an additional case to clarify the clinicopathologic features of colorectal carcinoma with humoral hypercalcemia. A 54-year-old woman was admitted with symptomatic hypercalcemia of 14.2 mg/dl and multiple hepatic metastases, 2 years after resection of sigmoid colon cancer. The hypercalcemia was caused by the circulating parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP) produced by poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma in the liver. The PTHrP level on admission was 13.5 pmol/l. Despite systemic chemotherapy, the patient died of disease progression 3 weeks after the humoral hypercalcemia was diagnosed. A review of the 21 reported cases, including ours, suggests that colorectal carcinoma associated with humoral hypercalcemia is characterized by a poorly differentiated tumor with or without squamous or neuroendocrine features, distant metastases, and a dismal prognosis.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
JJ Wysolmerski AE Broadus (1994) ArticleTitleHypercalcemia of malignancy: the central role of parathyroid hormone-related protein Annu Rev Med 45 189–200 Occurrence Handle10.1146/annurev.med.45.1.189 Occurrence Handle8198376
B Castleman BU Kibbee (1963) ArticleTitleCase records of the Massachusetts General Hospital: case 63-1963 N Engl J Med 269 801–8 Occurrence Handle14053569
G Mozaffarian (1969) ArticleTitleHypercalcemia associated with malignancies unexplained by bone metastasis. Case reports and review of literature J Maine Med Assoc 60 205–7 Occurrence Handle5351750
GS Omenn SI Roth WH Baker (1969) ArticleTitleHyperparathyroidism associated with malignant tumors of nonparathyroid origin Cancer 24 1004–12 Occurrence Handle4311108
H Kubota Y Koyama K Hojo Y Shimamura T Onishi M Tanaka et al. (1980) ArticleTitleAdenosquamous cell carcinoma of the colon with severe hypercalcemia. Report of two cases Jpn J Clin Oncol 10 311–20
DH Palvio FB Sorensen M Klove-Mogensen (1985) ArticleTitleStem cell carcinoma of the colon and rectum. Report of two cases and review of the literature Dis Colon Rectum 28 440–5 Occurrence Handle2988883
AH Chevinsky M Berelowitz HC Hoover SuffixJr (1987) ArticleTitleAdenosquamous carcinoma of the colon presenting with hypercalcemia Cancer 60 1111–6 Occurrence Handle3300949
CH Berkelhammer AL Baker GE Block DG Bostwick F Michelassi (1989) ArticleTitleHumoral hypercalcemia complicating adenosquamous carcinoma of the proximal colon Dig Dis Sci 34 142–7 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF01536171 Occurrence Handle2910674
R March R Ulin C Puccio J Savino Z Arlin T Ahmed et al. (1991) ArticleTitleHypercalcemia associated with adenocarcinoma of the rectum. A case report and review of the literature Anticancer Res 11 2029–30 Occurrence Handle1776836
H Gurney V Grill TJ Martin (1993) ArticleTitleParathyroid hormone-related protein and response to pamidronate in tumor-induced hypercalcemia Lancet 341 1611–3 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0140-6736(93)90756-7 Occurrence Handle8099988
M Links H Ho P Clingan T Diamond (1994) ArticleTitleHypercalcemia in a patient with fatal adenosquamous carcinoma of the colon Med J Aust 160 286–7 Occurrence Handle8107631
PL de Souza ML Friedlander (1995) ArticleTitleHumoral hypercalcemia associated with adenocarcinoma of the rectum. A case report and review of the literature Am J Clin Oncol 18 126–9 Occurrence Handle7900704
B Sidler L Alpert JE Henderson R Deckelbaum N Amizuka JE Silva et al. (1996) ArticleTitleAmplification of the parathyroid hormone-related peptide gene in a colonic carcinoma J Clin Endocrinol Metab 81 2841–7 Occurrence Handle10.1210/jc.81.8.2841 Occurrence Handle8768840
NJ Petrelli AA Valle TK Weber M Rodriguez-Bigas (1996) ArticleTitleAdenosquamous carcinoma of the colon and rectum Dis Colon Rectum 39 1265–8 Occurrence Handle8918436
M Sekine H Takami (1998) ArticleTitleCombination of calcitonin and pamidronate for emergency treatment of malignant hypercalcemia Oncol Rep 5 197–9 Occurrence Handle9458321
AH Lortholary SD Cadeau GM Bertrand VI Guerin-Meyer EC Gamelin MJ Audran (1999) ArticleTitleHumoral hypercalcemia in patients with colorectal carcinoma: report of two cases and review of the literature Cancer 86 2217–21 Occurrence Handle10.1002/(SICI)1097-0142(19991201)86:11<2217::AID-CNCR7>3.0.CO;2-V Occurrence Handle10590360
JT Thompson EH Paschold EA Levine (2001) ArticleTitleParaneoplastic hypercalcemia in a patient with adenosquamous cancer of the colon Am Surg 67 585–8 Occurrence Handle11409809
JY Luh ES Han JR Simmons RP Whitehead (2002) ArticleTitlePoorly differentiated colon carcinoma with neuroendocrine features presenting with hypercalcemia and cutaneous metastases: case report and review of the literature Am J Clin Oncol 25 160–3 Occurrence Handle10.1097/00000421-200204000-00011 Occurrence Handle11943894
JP Bilezikian (1992) ArticleTitleManagement of acute hypercalcemia N Engl J Med 326 1196–203 Occurrence Handle1532633
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sakata, J., Wakai, T., Shirai, Y. et al. Humoral Hypercalcemia Complicating Adenocarcinoma of the Sigmoid Colon: Report of a Case. Surg Today 35, 692–695 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-004-2974-3
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-004-2974-3