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Hypocalcemia in Cancer Patients: a Study Based on Ionized Calcium

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Abstract

The aim of this work was to study the prevalence of hypocalcemia in cancer patients based on ionized calcium and, as a secondary aim, the influence that hypocalcemia may have on survival. For this retrospective study, a representative sample of all the records of low and normal ionized calcium measured in 2014 was studied. Patients under 18 years and patients from the bone marrow transplantation service were excluded. The number of patients included in this study was 471. The median patient age was 63 years (18 to 91), and 247 (52%) were female. The most represented cancers were thyroid, colorectal, and breast. Ionized calcium was in the normal range in 331 (70%) patients and low in 140 (30%). In a univariable analysis, there were no significant differences in survival at 4 years between normal (47%) and low-level (42%) ionized calcium (p = 0.192), but there were differences in gender, age, the primary site, the number of metastatic sites, and the level of albumin. In the multivariable analysis, only the primary cancer, the number of metastatic sites, and the albumin levels were associated with survival. In a multivariable analysis excluding thyroid cancer, hypocalcemia remained not associated with survival. Hypocalcemia occurs in a variety of cancer types, and it does not have an influence on survival.

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Data Availability

Data are available from the correspondent author if requested.

Code Availability

IBM SPSS version 26.

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Funding

This work was supported in part by the North Section of the Portuguese League against Cancer.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Palliative Care Service, Instituto Português de Oncologia Do Porto Francisco Gentil EPE, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Do Porto, Porto, Portugal

    José António Ferraz-Gonçalves

  2. Medical Oncology Service, Instituto Português de Oncologia de Coimbra Francisco Gentil EPE, Coimbra, Portugal

    Ana Raquel Monteiro

  3. Medical Oncology Service, Instituto Português de Oncologia Do Porto Francisco Gentil EPE, Porto, Portugal

    Ana Sofia Patrão & Maria João Silva

  4. Medicine-Oncology Service, Unidade Local de Saúde Do Alto Minho EPE, Viana do Castelo, Portugal

    Ana Vítor Silva

  5. Palliative Care Service, Centro Hospitalar de Trás-Os-Montes E Alto Douro EPE, Vila Real, Portugal

    Andreia Costa & Cármen Pais

  6. Medical Oncology Unit, Hospital Dr. Nélio Mendonça, Funchal, Portugal

    Carolina Sales

  7. Internal Medicine Service, Centro Hospitalar Do Médio Ave, Famalicão, Portugal

    Diana Fernandes

  8. Onco-Hematology, Instituto Português de Oncologia Do Porto Francisco Gentil EPE, Porto, Portugal

    Eduarda Couto

  9. Pain and Palliative Care Unit, Hospital Central de Maputo, Maputo, Mozambique

    Emília Pinto

  10. Internal Medicine Service, Centro Hospitalar Tâmega E Sousa, Penafiel, Portugal

    Francisco Soares

  11. Hospital Pedro Hispano, Sra. da Hora, Portugal

    Helena Magalhães

  12. Medical Oncology Service, Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João, Porto, Portugal

    Joana Reis

  13. Hemato-Oncology, Hospital CUF Descobertas, Lisbon, Portugal

    Li Bei

  14. Internal Medicine Service, Centro Hospitalar de Entre O Douro E Vouga EPE, Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal

    Lúcia Guedes

  15. Instituto Português de Oncologia Do Porto Francisco Gentil EPE, North Region Cancer Registry of Portugal, Porto, Portugal

    Luís Antunes

  16. Medical Oncology Service, Centro Hospitalar de Leiria, Leiria, Portugal

    Mónica Pinho

  17. Medical Oncology Service, Centro Hospitalar Universitário Do Porto EPE, Porto, Portugal

    Sérgio Azevedo

Authors
  1. José António Ferraz-Gonçalves
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  2. Ana Raquel Monteiro
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  3. Ana Sofia Patrão
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  4. Ana Vítor Silva
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  5. Andreia Costa
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  6. Cármen Pais
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  7. Carolina Sales
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  8. Diana Fernandes
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  9. Eduarda Couto
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  10. Emília Pinto
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  11. Francisco Soares
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  12. Helena Magalhães
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  13. Joana Reis
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  14. Li Bei
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  15. Lúcia Guedes
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  16. Luís Antunes
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  17. Maria João Silva
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  18. Mónica Pinho
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  19. Sérgio Azevedo
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Contributions

Corresponding author: idea, initial conception, first draft of the protocol, first draft of the manuscript and final approval of the manuscript. All other authors: review of the different versions and final approval of the protocol, data collection, review of the different versions, and final approval of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to José António Ferraz-Gonçalves.

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Approved by the Ethics Committee meeting on 09 November 2017, Ref. 327/2017.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Ferraz-Gonçalves, J.A., Monteiro, A.R., Patrão, A.S. et al. Hypocalcemia in Cancer Patients: a Study Based on Ionized Calcium. SN Compr. Clin. Med. 3, 2520–2524 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42399-021-01053-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42399-021-01053-5

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