Immunotherapy of the Paraneoplastic Syndromes

Summary

We treat a subset of patients with paraneoplastic neurologic disorders, including those with Yo-mediated paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD), the Hu syndrome, which is most commonly associated with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) - paraneoplastic subacute sensory neuropathy, encephalomyelitis, limbic encephalopathy, autonomic neuropathy - and the Ri Syndrome (a.k.a. Paraneoplastic Opsoclonus-Myoclonus Ataxia), as well as those patients suspected to have a paraneoplastic neurologic disorder but in whom a characteristic antibody has not yet been identified. Our treatment protocol consists of immune suppression therapy using tacrolimus (FK506), a potent inhibitor of lymphocyte proliferation that is commonly used to prevent organ transplant rejection.

Timeline

Start

2006-04

Primary completion

2014-05

Completion

2014-05

Publications

• Orange D, Frank M, Tian S, Dousmanis A, Marmur R, Buckley N, Parveen S, Graber JJ, Blachere N, Darnell RB. Cellular immune suppression in paraneoplastic neurologic syndromes targeting intracellular antigens. Arch Neurol. 2012 Sep;69(9):1132-40. doi: 10.1001/archneurol.2012.595.

Drugs

Indications