[Treatment of hypercalcemia with mithramycin]

The authors treated 17 patients with hypercalcaemia (which in 16 cases resulted from a malignant disease) by means of 1 to 3 daily perfusions of 25 g of mithramycin per kg body weight. In all patients the treatment resulted in reduction in the level of calcaemia. In 12 patients the level of calcaemia was reduced to less than 105 mg/litre; in 16 patients to less than 110 mg/litre. In no patient was the calcaemia reduced to less than 70 mg/litre. The only notable inconvenience of the treatment was vomiting during the perfusion. Mithramycin seems to be the treatment of choice for hypercalcaemia of cancerous origin.