Monitoring renal function and adjusting dosing for patients with impaired renal function are not required with denosumab (60 mg every 6 months). However, these patients have an increased risk for developing hypocalcemia. This case report describes a patient with renal impairment who developed severe hypocalcemia after receiving denosumab.

Patients with bone metastases are at risk of skeletal-related events such as pathologic fractures, spinal cord compression, the need for orthopedic surgery to bone, and palliative radiotherapy for severe bone pain. Antiresorptive therapies have demonstrated efficacy for reducing the risk of skeletal-related events and ameliorating bone pain. Despite the well documented clinical benefits of antiresorptive therapies, patient benefits can be limited or compromised by nonadherence with scheduled therapy. Potential reasons for poor compliance include lack of understanding of how antiresorptive therapies work, neglecting the importance of bone health in maintaining quality of life, and being unaware of the potentially debilitating effects of skeletal-related events caused by bone metastases. Indeed, patients may stop therapy after bone pain subsides or discontinue due to generally mild and usually manageable adverse events, leaving them at an increased risk of developing skeletal-related events. In addition, the cost of antiresorptive therapy can be a concern for many patients with cancer. Medical care for patients with cancer requires a coordinated effort between primary care physicians and oncologists. Patients’ medical care teams can be leveraged to help educate them about the importance of adherence to antiresorptive therapy when cancer has metastasized to bone. Because primary care physicians generally have more contact with their patients than oncologists, they are in a unique position to understand patient perceptions and habits that may lead to noncompliance and to help educate patients about the benefits and risks of various antiresorptive therapies in the advanced cancer setting. Therefore, primary care physicians need to be aware of various mechanistic and clinical considerations regarding antiresorptive treatment options.

Two patients with multiple myeloma with large retroperitoneal myelomatous masses are discussed. This extraosseous extension of disease caused obstructive uropathy in both patients. This complication has not been previously recognized in multiple myeloma and must be added to the potential casues of renal failure in this disease.

This report descibes our experience with 40 evaluable patients with high-grade malignant astrocytomas. Eleven patients were treated with surgery and radiotherapy; 29 patients were treated with surgery, radiotherapy, and BCNU chemotherapy. Ten of these 29 patients are two-year survivors. Their mean survival is over 57.3 months, and they have been off chemotherapy for one to 27 months, mean 13.7 months. Seven of these patients received 800 to 1,100 mg/m2 of BCNU; three other long survivors received greater amounts of BCNU. Our current recommendation is that patients with high-grade malignant astrocytomas be treated with surgery, radiotherapy, and at least 800 mg/m2 of BCNU.