Does Calcitonin (salmon) help with paget's disease and acute hypercalcaemia?

What the studies show

Injectable calcitonin still has short-term licences for Paget's disease, acute bone loss from immobilisation and hypercalcaemia of malignancy, where bisphosphonates have largely replaced it.

Several well-run randomised trials in people, pointing the same way. You can plan around this. It still says nothing about whether the effect is worth the side effects for you.

1. 1
   European Medicines Agency. European Medicines Agency recommends limiting long-term use of calcitonin medicines (press release, 20 July 2012).EMAWithdrawal of the nasal spray; cancer signal from pooled trials.

In context

Calcitonin is a thyroid hormone that lowers blood calcium by slowing bone breakdown; the salmon version, more potent than human, was sold for decades as an osteoporosis nasal spray. Its one large fracture trial found a 33% reduction in spinal fractures at the middle dose and none at the higher one. In 2012–2013 European and other regulators withdrew the nasal spray after meta-analyses found a small excess of cancers, leaving short-term injectable use for Paget's disease and hypercalcaemia.

Calcitonin (salmon) is approved (rx, restricted). Legal status differs by country — see the regulation section or the jurisdiction pages.

Questions

Other outcomes for Calcitonin (salmon)

• AVertebral fracture risk (osteoporosis, nasal spray)1 large RCT (n=1,255, 5 yr)
• ADose–responseSame RCT
• BCancer risk (long-term use)adverseRegulatory meta-analyses of RCTs

Written and maintained by LYO Research — how pages are written and checked. Reviewed 23 September 2026. Grades count human evidence only; see how LYO grades. Not medical advice. Correct this page →