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Paraneoplastic encephalomyelitis: Dramatic response to chemotherapy alone
Author(s) -
Batson Oliver A.,
Fantle David M.,
Stewart James A.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/cncr.2820690536
Subject(s) - medicine , malignancy , paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration , chemotherapy , encephalomyelitis , cancer , lung cancer , pathology , immunology , surgery , multiple sclerosis , antibody , autoantibody
Neurologic paraneoplastic syndromes are usually a debilitating and untreatable manifestation of malignancy. The case is presented of a woman with severe paraneoplastic encephalomyelitis that was characterized predominantly by cerebellar degeneration associated with small cell lung cancer, both of which responded rapidly to cytotoxic chemotherapy alone. She is alive with some neurologic residua but no signs of recurrent cancer more than 2 years after diagnosis. Recommendations for aggressive management of this rare but disabling syndrome are outlined.