Paraneoplastic neurological tumors

Cancer patients often develop symptoms from organs remote from the primary tumor. The symptoms are usually caused by metastasis or toxic effects of therapy and less often by such secondary factors as nutritional deficiency, metabolic disturbances, opportunistic infections, and effects of critical illness. Other systemic diseases such as diabetes or amyloid may become manifest or aggravated during the course of the cancer disease and cause symptoms from remote organs. Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS) are a rare cause of remote symptoms [1]. The PNS affect less than 1% of all cancer patients [2], Even in small cell lung cancer (SCLC), the tumor type most commonly associated with PNS, these disorders occur in less than 5% of the patients [3, 4],... 

Rauer S, Andreou I. Tumor progression and serum anti-HuD antibody concentration in patients with paraneoplastic neurological syndromes. Eur Neurol 2002 47(4) 189-195. 

Linke R, Schroeder M, Helmberger T, Voltz R. Antibody-positive paraneoplastic neurologic syndromes Value of CT and PET for tumor diagnosis. Neurology 2004 63(2) 282-286. 

Antoine JC, Absi L, Honnorat J, Boulesteix JM, de Brouker T, Vial C, et al. Antiamphi-physin antibodies are associated with various paraneoplastic neurological syndromes and tumors. Arch Neurol 1999 56(2) 172-177. 

Symptoms that are not a result of the direct effects of the tumor are termed paraneoplastic syndromes. They may be caused by substances secreted by the tumor or in response to the tumor and often occur in tissues far from the site of malignancy. Fhraneoplastic syndromes are numerous and affect a wide variety of systems, including the endocrine, neurologic, skeletal, renal, metabolic, vascular, and hematologic systems. 

Dalmau J, Furneaux HM, Rosenblum MK, Graus F, Posner JB. Detection of the anti-Hu antibody in specific regions of the nervous system and tumor from patients with paraneoplastic encephalomyelitis/sensory neuronopathy. Neurology 1991 41(11) 1757-1764. 

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