Background: hypercalcemia in patients with diagnosed carcinoma has predominantly a humoral basis mediated by parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTH-rP). Among the reported cases, hypercalcemia associated with the majority of abdominal malignancies indicates an advanced stage of disease.Case report: we present a case of a 78-year-old patient with an adenosquamous pancreatic carcinoma associated with humoral hypercalcemia mediated by PTH-rP.Conclusion: in this case, demonstration of unexpectantly rapid increase in calcium serum correlated with aggressive tumor growth led us to raise the hypothesis that PTH-rP could be a mediator of invasion and dissemination secreted by some tumors, and probably indicates the appropriate time to initiate palliative treatment.

Aims To evaluate whether willingness to undergo colonoscopy screening is influenced by being a first-degree relative of hospitalized patients with or without colorectal cancer after briefing and surgeon recommendation. Methods We performed a cross-sectional study of 327 first-degree relatives of hospitalized patients aged higher than 40 years, divided into Group A (151 relatives of colorectal cancer patients) and Group B (176 relatives of non-cancer patients) at the University Hospital of the Canary Islands, Spain. All were personally briefed by a surgeon, aided by a colorectal cancer pamphlet, and encouraged to accept screening colonoscopy with sedation. Results Willingness to undergo colonoscopy screening was greater in Group A (66.9%) than in Group B (29.0%); (odds ratio: 11.1; 95% confidence interval ¼ 4.27 to 29.14; P , 0.001). Prebriefing awareness of screening colonoscopy was also significantly higher in Group A (76.8% vs. 33.5%; P , 0.001), the main source of information being a close relative with colorectal cancer. Conclusions Being a close relative of a colorectal cancer patient is positively related with willingness to undergo colonoscopy screening in this study. This cross-sectional study outlines a strategy for increasing the level of willingness to undergo colorectal cancer screening in a group of people at risk.