High blood calcium levels may be a warning sign of cancer

A new study published in the British Journal of Cancer, reveals that high calcium levels in the blood may be a warning sign of cancer, especially in men. 
 
High blood calcium levels of hypercalcaemia occurs in about 10 to 20 per cent of cancer patients people with cancer, said the researchers. So, it’s already known that cancer patients have elevated calcium levels in the blood but this is the first study that shown high blood calcium level can be a marker of cancer diagnosis. 
 

For the research, scientists analysed the electronic records of 54,000 patients who having increased levels of calcium in their blood and looked at how many of them went on to receive a cancer diagnosis. A simple blood test could identify those with hypercalcaemia, prompting doctors to investigate further. 

Results showed that high blood calcium levels increased cancer risk to 28 per cent. A surprising finding was that out of 54,000 patients, the risk was found to be higher in men compared to women. It was found that in men, even mild hypercalcaemia conferred a risk of cancer in one year of 11.5 per cent. In women, the risks were much less, with the corresponding figures being 4.1 per cent and 8.7 per cent. 

In men, 81 per cent of the cancer associated with hypercalcaemia was caused by lung, prostate, myeloma, colorectal and other haematological cancers. In women, cancer was much less common, researchers said. 

‘We were surprised by the gender difference. There are a number of possible explanations for this but we think it might be because women are much more likely to have hyperparathyroidism, another cause of hypercalcaemia. Men rarely get this condition, so their hypercalcaemia is more likely to be due to cancer,’ Hamilton added. 

‘All previous studies on hypercalcaemia and cancer had been carried out with patients who had already been diagnosed with cancer – hypercalcaemia was seen as a late effect of the cancer,’ said Dr Fergus Hamilton, from the Centre for Academic Primary Care at the University of Bristol, who led the study. 

‘We wanted to look at the issue from a different perspective and find out if high calcium levels in blood could be used as an early indicator of cancer and therefore in the diagnosis of cancer,’ said Hamilton. 

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