HYPERCALCEMIA AND ECTOPIC SECRETION OF PARATHYROID-HORMONE BY AN OVARIAN-CARCINOMA WITH REARRANGEMENT OF THE GENE FOR PARATHYROID-HORMONE

HYPERCALCEMIA accompanied by elevated serum concentrations of parathyroid hormone (PTH) is the cardinal feature of primary hyperparathyroidism. The excessive production of PTH is due most often to a parathyroid adenoma, less often to parathyroid hyperplasia, and rarely to parathyroid carcinoma. In contrast, humoral hypercalcemia of cancer is now recognized to be a syndrome that is not dependent on PTH. Levels of the novel peptide PTH-related peptide are increased in the serum of most patients with squamous carcinoma,1 and through its binding to a common receptor for PTH and PTH-related peptide, it produces the biochemical features of hyperparathyroidism.2 Immunoradiometric assays for. © 1990, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.