Lung Cancer: Nervous system (neurologic) syndromes
Some or most of the paraneoplastic syndromes that affect the nervous system appear to be caused by an attack of antibodies against healthy tissue. Antibodies are white blood cell proteins that normally sequester and immobilize foreign tissue such as viruses or bacteria.
• Cerebellar degeneration, causing problems with balance or unsteady arm and leg movements.
• Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS), characterized by muscle weakness and dysfunction, especially in the pelvis and thighs and, at times, joint soreness, difficulty swallowing, and other symptoms resembling myasthenia gravis.
• Peripheral neuropathy, evidenced by pain, tingling, or numbness in hands or feet.
• Encephalopathy, an infection or inflammation in the brain.
• Myelopathy, presenting as bone pain or tenderness or bone marrow dysfunction.
• Psychosis, mimicking mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
• Dementia [click to continue…]
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