Hypercalcemia as the Initial Presentation of Acute T-cell Leukemia/Lymphoma

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) is a T-cell malignancy that generally presents with widespread involvement of lymph nodes, peripheral blood, and/or skin. It is an uncommon malignancy linked to the human T-lymphotropic virus 1 (HTLV-1). Herein, we present a case of ATLL that was diagnosed after a patient presented to our hospital with nonspecific symptoms of fatigue and weakness and was subsequently found to have hypercalcemia secondary to his blood malignancy. We engage in a discussion of the etiology, epidemiology, and management of patients with this rare malignancy as well as the mechanisms that result in hypercalcemia.