Lung Cancer and Paraneoplastic Neurologic Syndromes. Case Report and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Address for correspondence: Dr Marco Rossato, MD, PhD, University of Padova, Department of Medicine, DIMED, Clinica Medica 3, 35128 Padova, Italy Clinical Pra ● Paraneoplastic syndromes refer to cancer-associated signs and symptoms arising in organs that are remote from the cancer and unrelated to metastases. ● Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes are rare, affecting only 0.01% of patients with cancer. About 3-5% of patients with small-cell lung cancer present paraneoplastic neurological syndromes. ● Generally paraneoplastic neurologic syndromes are due to the production of antibodies against neural antigens expressed by the tumor and that are present in normal neuronal tissues. ● Here we describe the case of a male patient with distal polyneuropathy due to production of auto-antibodies versus myelin associated glycoprotein (MAG) and nonsmall-cell lung cancer expressing MAG on cancer cells. ● The tumor and the immune system are both implicated in the development of paraneoplastic neurological syndromes that are generally thought to