9th June 2023

Overview of Paraneoplastic Syndromes

Overview of Paraneoplastic Syndromes

Paraneoplastic syndromes are a group of rare systemic or organ-specific disorders that occur as a result of cellular or immunological responses to cancer. They can present at any point during the “lifetime” of the malignancy, often presenting prior to diagnosis, and can be phenotypically similar or identical to a number of more common disorders, which makes them diagnostically challenging. Whilst there are a number of specific malignancies linked to specific syndromes, the occurrence of these syndromes does not correlate with grade nor stage of the cancer and can even present following curative treatment such as resection of the primary tumour.

The exact mechanisms behind many of these syndromes are poorly understood but are classified into two broad sub-categories: direct tumour secretion of agents that act on the body’s cellular pathways (for example enzymes, hormones, cytokines), and the body’s immunological response to the presence of the tumour.
This section will cover the commonly affected organ systems and the most common paraneoplastic syndromes within them.