Humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy in squamous cell carcinoma of the skin: Parathyroid hormone-related protein as a cause

The second most common cause of hypercalcemia is humoral hypercalcemia of m alignancy (HHM), a condition associated with increased mortality. Although hypercalcemia is usually seen in squamous cell cancers, only 13 cases have been described in association with squamous cell skin cancer, and only 5 of these had characteristics of HHM. We report a case of hypercalcemia due to squamous cell skin cancer confined to the chest wall in a 67-year-old semi -comatose patient. Aggressive treatment with intravenous fluid hydration, f urosemide, and etidronate corrected the hypercalcemia. A thorough workup ru led out bone metastasis and confirmed increased parathyroid-related protein , the hallmark of HHM. After regaining consciousness, the patient refused f urther therapy and subsequently died.