Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0027819 (neuroblastoma)
 27,800 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Increased titers of anti-sulfatide antibodies were detected by ELISA in 5 of 200 patients and control subjects. All 5 patients had sensory impairment; 4 had neuropathy, and one had multiple sclerosis. Of the patients with neuropathy, 2 had a clinical syndrome of small fiber sensory neuropathy with normal electrophysiological or nerve biopsy studies, 1 had a sensorimotor axonal neuropathy associated with IgM monoclonal gammopathy, and 1 had sensorimotor neuropathy with multifocal motor conduction block and anti-GM1 antibodies. The anti-sulfatide antibodies bound to the surface of unfixed rat dorsal root ganglia neurons and human neuroblastoma cells, and to fixed sections of central and peripheral myelin. No binding was detected following intraneural injection into rat sciatic nerves. Pre-absorption with sulfatide but not with galactocerebroside eliminated the tissue binding activity. These findings indicate that increased titers of anti-sulfatide antibodies are found in patients with sensory impairment but are not restricted to a particular neurological syndrome or type of neuropathy. The significance of anti-sulfatide antibodies is uncertain although sulfatide on dorsal root ganglia neurons may be a target antigen.
 ...
PMID:Anti-sulfatide antibodies in neurological disease: binding to rat dorsal root ganglia neurons. 146 27

In summary, carcinoma is the most frequent cancer that metastasizes to the skin; lung cancer in men and breast cancer in women. Clinically distinctive patterns of cutaneous metastasis of epithelial origin include alopecia neoplastica, pulsatile nodules, Sister Mary Joseph's nodules, morpheaform, and cellulitis-like lesions. Biopsying these lesions reveals adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, or anaplastic carcinoma. The type of histologic pattern seen can be a clue to the organ of origin giving rise to the cutaneous metastasis. Skin that is damaged allows for circulating malignant cells, often of epithelial or leukemic origin, to lodge and proliferate locally (inflammatory oncotaxis). The commonest form of leukemia to affect the skin of elderly males is chronic lymphocytic leukemia. However, when leukemia involves the mucous membranes, acute myeloid leukemia (acute monocytic and acute myelomonocytic leukemia) is the most likely diagnosis. When papules, nodules, or plaques develop on the head, neck, or torso in a middle-aged male accompanied by lymphadenopathy, there must be a high index of suspicion that these lesions are metastatic lymphomatous deposits. Definitive histologic diagnosis on a skin biopsy specimen is difficult. In this situation, it is best to rely on histologic patterns seen in lymphoid tissue along with cellular marker studies. An elderly patient having bone pain, anemia, elevated blood calcium level, and renal failure along with purplish or skin-colored nodules and plaques on the trunk has a good chance of having multiple myeloma. Biopsying these lesions is most certain to reveal atypical plasma cells, and blood immunoelectrophoresis will demonstrate characteristic monoclonal gammopathy. There are two malignancies seen in children under 3 years of age that often times affect the skin in a characteristic fashion. Letterer-Siwe disease, which is distinguished from other histocytic disorders by its cell of origin, the Langerhans cell, clinically shows maculopapular and erosive lesions distributed in a seborrheic pattern. Neuroblastoma derived from cells of the neural crest demonstrates clinically widespread bluish papulonodules. Kaposi's sarcoma, a multifocal vascular malignancy, has a wide spectrum of clinical expression. Those patients who are immunocompromised secondary to concomitant disease or immunosuppressive therapy are more susceptible to a disseminated fulminant course accompanied by opportunistic infection. In conclusion, although specific signs of internal malignancy are less common than nonspecific ones, they are just as important; if the clinician managing the cancer patient is familiar with these clues to internal disease, proper patient management will ensue.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:Specific cutaneous manifestations of internal malignancy. 307 47