Use of clodronate and calcitonin in hypercalcemia due to malignancy.

Increased bone resorption and increased renal tubular reabsorption of calcium are involved in the pathogenesis of hypercalcemia of malignancy. Clodronate and calcitonin inhibit bone resorption and have been used as therapy for malignancy-associated hypercalcemia. Both drugs induce significant reductions of serum calcium but the decrease is greater with clodronate, particularly when given intravenously. While the response to calcitonin generally is of short duration, clodronate can maintain normal serum calcium values over several weeks when oral administered. Thus, from the clinical point of view clodronate is a very useful adjunct to the available therapy.