title: A case of adenocarcinoma of the lung associated with a neck mass and hypercalcemia.
abstract: The case of hypercalcemia secondary to metastasis to a benign parathyroid adenoma is reported. The patient had documented lung adenocarcinoma with multiple bone metastases and a mass in the lower anterior neck for at least 5 months before hypercalcemia and hypophosphatemia resistant to treatment developed. Autopsy revealed widespread metastatic disease including metastatic tumor invading a benign parathyroid adenoma. The analysis of four cases of metastatic cancer spread to a benign parathyroid adenoma reported previously revealed that two of them also had hypercalcemia during a late stage of the disease. There are data that the incidence of metastases to parathyroid gland might be as high as 11.9%, and the incidence of parathyroid adenomas in patients with cancer is significantly higher than in controls. The metastases to benign parathyroid adenomas might be another mechanism of hypercalcemia of malignancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neoplastic Diseases, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, New York.
authors.forename: V I
authors.initials: VI
authors.lastname: Benisovich
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Rybak
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Ross
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000556:secondary*; D000236:Adenoma / Q000150:complications / Q000556:secondary*; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary*; D006801:Humans; D006934:Hypercalcemia / Q000209:etiology*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary*; D010282:Parathyroid Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000556:secondary*