The fundamental role of PTHrP in bone lesions and hypercalcemia in myeloma may be important to consider even during the initial phase of the disease and particularly in the progression of bone complications with hypercalcemia.
The present findings are consistent with the view that PTHrP can be generated in myeloma cells in vivo, and could contribute to osteolysis and hypercalcaemia, as in patients with cancer.
PTHrP has been measured as elevated in the plasma of patients with myeloma and might be an important contributor to the skeletal complications in this disease.