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Paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis associated with small-cell lung cancer
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
Limbic encephalitis is a disorder characterized by personality changes, irritability, depression, seizures, memory loss, and sometimes dementia. In more than half of cases, limbic encephalitis is paraneoplastic and indicates the presence of an underlying cancer. Symptoms of limbic encephalitis often precede the diagnosis of cancer or mimic other complications of cancer or its treatment, confusing the differential diagnosis. It is believed that cytotoxic T-cell responses and antibodies that target neuronal proteins usually expressed by the underlying tumor cause the neurologic symptoms. The detection of these antibodies has provided diagnostic tests that allow for recognition of the disorder as paraneoplastic and direct the search for the tumor to selected organs. Treatment of the tumor is critical to improving or stabilizing the neurologic disorder.
| Commun Oncol 2007;4:491–494 | full text |  101 kb |