Abstract
Fifteen patients with lymphoma and hypercalcemia (greater than or equal to 11.0 mg/dL) were identified by screening the serum chemistry profile obtained from patients upon admission to the Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center. Seven of the 15 (47%) possessed a frankly elevated serum concentration of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25-(OH)2-D]. An additional patient with severe hypercalcemia (16.2 mg/dL) had a serum 1,25-(OH)2-D concentration in the midnormal range, not a suppressed value. To examine the potential existence of hypercalciuria in absence of overt hypercalcemia, prospective screening of 23 normocalcemic patients with lymphoma was undertaken. Four of the 23 patients (17%) had increased fractional urinary calcium excretion rates (0.35 +/- 0.3 mg calcium/100 mL glomerular filtrate [GF], mean +/- SE; normal, less than 0.16 mg/100 mL GF); two of the hypercalciuric patients had a frankly elevated serum 1,25-(OH)2-D concentration. Of the 19 hypercalcemic/hypercalciuric lymphoma patients identified, none had an elevated serum immunoreactive parathyroid hormone concentration. Fourteen of the 19 hypercalcemic/hypercalciuric patients (74%) suffered from B-cell neoplasms, three had Hodgkin's lymphoma, and two had adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma. All hypercalcemic/hypercalciuric patients had widespread disease (stage III or IV). Six patients, four with hypercalcemia and two with hypercalciuria, had acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). These data suggest that the deregulated synthesis of a 1,25-(OH)2-D-like metabolite is a common cause of hypercalcemia and hypercalciuria in patients with lymphoma including patients with AIDS-associated tumors.
