Paraneoplastic syndromes in thoracic malignancies

Abstract

Paraneoplastic syndromes are caused by factors produced by cancer cells that often act at a distance from both the primary site and its metastases. The most extensively characterized syndromes caused by cancer are those produced by polypeptide hormones, such as adrenocorticotropic hormone, and those produced by antibodies directed against tumor antigens that cross-react with neural tissue, such as in the Eaton-Lambert myasthenic syndrome. These syndromes develop in a minority of cancer patients, and are diagnoses of exclusion. Lung cancer, particularly small cell lung cancer, is the most common malignancy causing paraneoplastic syndromes. A large number of paraneoplastic syndromes have been described. This review focuses on the increased understanding of some of the well-documented syndromes that has occurred through recent advances principally in molecular biology and immunology.