Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0025202 (melanoma)
 69,561 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We studied a kindred in which three members had essential myoclonus and seven members had malignant melanoma. Two of the persons with myoclonus had melanoma and the third carried the genetic predisposition for melanoma. The coexistence of the two disorders in these patients could represent coincidence, linkage between the two dominant genes, or the pleiotropic expression of a single gene affecting neuroectodermal derivatives.
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PMID:Essential myoclonus in a kindred with familial malignant melanoma. 669 23

Type 1 antineuronal nuclear autoantibody (ANNA-1, also known as "anti-Hu") is a marker of neurologic autoimmunity that is highly associated with small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). To determine the spectrum of symptoms and signs as well as the frequency of cancer in adult patients who are seropositive for ANNA-1, we reviewed 162 sequential patients (67% female) identified as ANNA-1-positive in a comprehensive immunofluorescence screening test. In 21% of these patients, the antibody test requested by the physician was not ANNA-1. By the end of the follow-up period, cancer had been found in 142 patients (88%). Ten of these lacked evidence of SCLC (4 had prostate carcinoma, 3 breast carcinoma, 1 both prostate carcinoma and melanoma, 1 lymphoma, and 1 squamous-cell lung carcinoma). Of the 132 patients (81%) with proven SCLC, 17 had one or more coexisting malignant neoplasms (6 had renal carcinoma, 4 another lung primary carcinoma, 3 prostate carcinoma, 3 breast carcinoma, and 4 assorted neoplasms). The diagnosis of SCLC in 128 patients (97%) followed the onset of paraneoplastic symptoms. SCLC was identified in 10 patients by chest MRI after an equivocal chest radiograph or CT; in 28 by bronchoscopy, mediastinoscopy, or thoracotomy; and in 7 at autopsy. Neurologic signs in decreasing frequency were neuropathy (sensory > mixed somatic > autonomic > cranial [especially cranial nerve VIII] > motor), cerebellar ataxia, limbic encephalitis, polyradiculopathy, associated Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, myopathy, myelopathy, opsoclonus/myoclonus, motor neuronopathy, brachial plexopathy, and aphasia. Nineteen patients had a solely gastrointestinal initial presentation, including gastroparesis, pseudo-obstruction, esophageal achalasia, or other dysmotility. We conclude that seropositivity for ANNA-1 can expedite the diagnosis and treatment of otherwise occult cancer in patients, especially tobacco abusers, with varied neurologic and gastroenterologic presentations. The search for SCLC should not end on discovering a different neoplasm.
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PMID:Paraneoplastic and oncologic profiles of patients seropositive for type 1 antineuronal nuclear autoantibodies. 952 Dec 51

Opsoclonus-myoclonus is a well-described paraneoplastic syndrome that most often occurs in association with small cell carcinoma of the lung and breast carcinoma. To the best of our knowledge, we describe the first reported case of paraneoplastic opsoclonus-myoclonus occurring is association with malignant melanoma. Antineuronal antibodies were not identified despite repeated testing. No therapeutic benefit was observed following corticosteroid administration.
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PMID:Paraneoplastic opsoclonus-myoclonus secondary to malignant melanoma. 1022 21

The authors of this article present a case of a woman diagnosed with a vaginal melanoma who developed paraneoplastic syndrome (PNS) soon after diagnosis. A review of the literature regarding PNSs in gynecological malignancies is also described in this article. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration with opsoclonus myoclonus secondary to a vaginal melanoma. In addition, our patient had an unusually acute progression to pancerebellar symptoms over the course of 3 weeks. Her paraneoplastic symptoms improved significantly after partial resection of the melanoma.
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PMID:Paraneoplastic syndrome in vaginal melanoma: a case report and review of the literature. 1730 66

Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS) can be defined as remote effects of cancer that are not caused by the tumor and its metastasis, or by infection, ischemia or metabolic disruptions. PNS are rare, affecting less than 1/10,000 patients with cancer. Only the Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome is relatively frequent, occurring in about 1% of patients with small cell lung cancer. PNS can affect any part of the central and peripheral nervous system, the neuromuscular junction, and muscle. They can be isolated or occur in association. In most patients, the neurological disorder develops before the cancer becomes clinically overt and the patient is referred to the neurologist who has the charge of identifying a neurological disorder as paraneoplastic. PNS are usually severely disabling. The most common PNS are Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS), subacute cerebellar ataxia, limbic encephalitis (LE), opsoclonus-myoclonus (OM), retinopathies (cancer-associated retinopathy (CAR) and melanoma-associated retinopathy (MAR), Stiff-Person syndrome (SPS), chronic gastrointestinal pseudoobstruction (CGP), sensory neuronopathy (SSN), encephalomyelitis (EM) and dermatomyositis. PNS are caused by autoimmune processes triggered by the cancer and directed against antigens common to both the cancer and the nervous system, designated as onconeural antigens. Due to their high specificity (> 90%), the best way to diagnose a neurological disorder as paraneoplastic is to identify one of the well-characterized anti-onconeural protein antibodies in the patient's serum. In addition, as these antibodies are associated with a restricted range of cancers, they can guide the search for the underlying tumor at a stage when it is frequently not clinically overt. This is a critical point as, to date, the best way to stabilize PNS is to treat the cancer as soon as possible. Unfortunately, about one-third of patients do not have detectable antibodies and 5% to 10% have an atypical antibody that is not well-characterized. As PNS are believed to be immune-mediated, suppression of the immune response represents another treatment approach.
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PMID:Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes. 1748 Feb 25

Paraneoplastic syndromes involving the visual system are a heterogeneous group of disorders occurring in the setting of systemic malignancy. They are unrelated to local tumor invasion or metastasis and unexplained by nutritional, metabolic, infectious or iatrogenic causes. The presence of antibodies may aid in the diagnosis of a paraneoplastic syndrome, although this is not an absolute requirement. Chorioretinal involvement is seen in CAR (cancer-associated retinopathy) syndrome, MAR (melanoma-associated retinopathy) syndrome, paraneoplastic vitelliform maculopathy, and bilateral diffuse uveal melanocytic proliferation. Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes with ophthalmologic involvement include optic neuropathy, opsoclonus-myoclonus, Eaton-Lambert myasthenic syndrome, paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD) and rhombencephalitis.
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PMID:Paraneoplastic syndromes in ophthalmology. 2978 39

Paraneoplastic syndromes involving the visual system are a heterogeneous group of disorders occurring in the setting of systemic malignancy. Although these syndromes are rare, the clinical manifestations can herald an unsuspected, underlying malignancy. The associated antibodies and histopathology of each syndrome are presented to help in the understanding of these autoimmune phenomena. Outlined in this review article are diagnostic features useful in differentiating cancer-associated retinopathy, melanoma-associated retinopathy, paraneoplastic polymorphous vitelliform maculopathy, bilateral diffuse uveal melanocytic proliferation and paraneoplastic neurologic syndromes such as optic neuropathy, opsoclonus-myoclonus, Lambert-Eaton myasthenia and paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration.
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PMID:[Paraneoplastic Syndromes in Ophthalmology (French version of the article)]. 2989 Nov 1

Melanoma metastasis from an unknown primary cancer has an incidence of 3.2% among melanoma patients. Furthermore, paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS) are rare, occurring in 1-3% of patients with malignancies. Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD) is one of the classic PNS and is characterized by acute or subacute onset of ataxia and/or presence of onconeural antibodies. A 61-year-old male with ataxia, vertigo, and headache later developed dysarthria, multidirectional nystagmus, hyperactive delirium, auditory hallucinations, psychomotor agitation, and myoclonus. Toxicological, metabolic, infectious, and autoimmune etiologies were assessed and reported negative. An osteolytic lesion was observed in the right iliac crest via computed tomography (CT). A positron emission tomography-CT reported increased fluorodeoxyglucose uptake of a right iliac and right inguinal ganglion. After biopsy of the right inguinal ganglion, a BRAF mutation-positive melanoma metastasis from an occult primary cancer was diagnosed. Dermatologic, ophthalmologic, and endoscopic gastrointestinal assessment did not reveal a primary malignant melanoma. The patient's movement disorders and neuropsychiatric symptoms improved with quetiapine, prednisone, azathioprine, and cyclophosphamide. Oncological management was conducted with MAPK pathway inhibitors (i.e., dabrafenib and trametinib). Movement disorders associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms are complex to diagnose. PNS are rare and often associated with antibodies against neural antigens expressed by the tumor. The case presented above describes a patient with a BRAF-positive malignant melanoma metastasis from an occult primary associated with PCD - to the best of our knowledge, the first reported in the literature.
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PMID:Paraneoplastic Cerebellar Degeneration Secondary to BRAF Mutant Melanoma Metastasis from an Occult Primary Cancer. 3277 48