Diagnosis and treatment of paraneoplastic neurological disorders

Voltz, R. and Graus, F. (2004): Diagnosis and treatment of paraneoplastic neurological disorders. In: Onkologie, No. 3: pp. 253-258

Abstract

In about two thirds of cases, patients with paraneoplastic neurological disorders present to the neurologist without a known tumor. Due to the ongoing immune response, this tumor tends to stay biologically relatively benign, and therefore difficult to diagnose. In patients with a known tumor, the neurological symptoms often precede a tumor recurrence. In both scenarios, anti-neuronal antibodies are an invaluable diagnostic help to the clinician, and may be supplemented by other diagnostic tests such as MRI, CSF, and electrophysiology. Tumor therapy remains the mainstay of therapeutic options, although early immune therapy must be started in parallel. It is hoped that the recent fundamental advances in understanding the autoimmune pathology of these disorders, especially the role of cytotoxic T cells, will eventually lead to more effective treatment options.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Form of publication: Publisher's Version
• Faculties: Medicine
• Subjects: 600 Technology > 610 Medicine and health
• ISSN: 0378-584X
• Alliance/National Licence: This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.
• Language: English