Paraneoplastic hypercalcemia in endometrial carcinoma

Humoral hypercalcemic syndrome associated with tumors of the female reproductive system is believed to be uncommon, and only 27 such cases have been identified prior to 1980. We describe 2 patients with humoral hypercalcemia in clear cell adenocarcinoma of the uterus, and review the literature on previously published cases. Both our patients fulfilled the criteria for humoral hypercalcemic syndrome, namely: hypercalcemia without bone metastases ranging from 12.8 to 14.1 mg/dl in the presence of normal serum parathyroid hormone levels, reduced tubular reabsorption of phosphate, and reduced serum albumin. We propose that humoral hypercalcemia is perhaps not a rare complication of uterine malignancy and, that increased awareness may result in early diagnosis of this important metabolic problem.