Nasal human calcitonin for tumor-induced hypercalcemia

Summary We treated four hypercalcemic cancer patients by nasal hCT, 3×2 mg daily, which has been reported to be active in Paget's disease at lower doses. Only one patient became normocalcemic and mean (± SEM) calcium levels fell from 11.6±0.2 mg/dl before therapy to 10.7±0.6 mg/dl 2–3 days after starting hCT. The tolerance was excellent but, because of insufficient efficacy, we do not recommend this form of therapy for cancer hypercalcemia.