Malignant hypercalcemia in vulvar cancer.

ABSTRACT

Humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy (HHM) is a common paraneoplastic syndrome, most often associated with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, esophagus, kidneys and breast, but rarely with vulval cancer. In most patients, HHM is associated with over-production of a peptide analogue of parathormone (parathyroid hormone-related protein, PTHrP). The case of a 70-year-old patient with massive squamous cell epithelioma of the vulva complicated by HHM is reported. To our knowledge, this is the first documented case with high serum concentrations of PTHrP and immunohistochemical confirmation of PTHrP production by neoplastic cells.