Advanced cancer of the prostate combined with hypercalcaemia

Despite the high frequency of skeletal metastases from cancer of the prostate, hypercalcaemia is extremely uncommon in this condition. In two patients with advanced, poorly differentiated metastasizing cancer a fairly uniform clinical picture developed, with anaemia, leukocytosis, increased serum creatinine, thrombocytopenia, elevated alkaline and acid phosphatase levels and symptoms secondary to hypercalcaemia. The development of more effective agents against cancer of the prostate will probably afford longer palliation, but evidently at a risk of severe metabolic disturbances in the preterminal state.