Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology
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Hypercalcemia and leukocytosis may occur in conjunction as paraneoplastic syndromes associated with malignant disease. Here we describe a human squamous cell carcinoma of the maxilla that was associated with hypercalcemia and leukocytosis, and also cachexia. The primary tumor was surgically removed and established in permanent cell culture. ⋯ We examined the organs of tumor-bearing mice and found striking histopathologic abnormalities in the bones, spleen, and liver, but no infiltration with tumor cells. The bones showed marked evidence of osteoclastic bone resorption. This model of a human tumor associated with the hypercalcemia-leukocytosis paraneoplastic syndrome, together with cachexia, should make it possible to determine the mechanisms responsible for these paraneoplastic syndromes and their relationship to each other.