Mithramycin for Paget's Disease of Bone

To the Editor: I was quite interested, on reading the article of Haddad et al. on the effects of prolonged thyrocalcitonin administration on Paget's disease of bone (New Eng J Med 283:549, 1970), by their somewhat cavalier dismissal of the use of mithramycin in this disorder because of “unacceptable side effects.” We have now treated more than 40 such patients with mithramycin (JAMA 21:1153, 1970), with no serious toxicity and with much more dramatic effects, including prolonged remissions of disease activity. Although careful monitoring of the patient during administration of the drug is necessary to avoid serious toxicity, we believe.