Paraneoplastic rheumatic disorders: a narrative review

Abstract

Paraneoplastic syndromes (PS) are a heterogeneous group of diseases related to a neoplasm, indirectly dependent on it. Diagnosis and the treatment are often a challenge for clinicians, not least because the pathogenetic mechanisms are highly complex and not entirely known. Nonetheless, in most cases, PS precede the diagnosis of malignancies, thus their identification is particularly important in addressing physicians' diagnostic work-up with regard to early cancer diagnosis. Among paraneoplastic syndromes, those of rheumatologic interest represent a large component. In this paper, we review the main rheumatic PS.