Diagnosis and treatment of paraneoplastic neurological disorders

In about two thirds of cases, patients with paraneoplastic neurological disorders present to the neurologist without a known tumor. Due to the ongoing immune response, this tumor tends to stay biologically relatively benign, and therefore difficult to diagnose. In patients with a known tumor, the neurological symptoms often precede a tumor recurrence. In both scenarios, anti-neuronal antibodies are an invaluable diagnostic help to the clinician, and may be supplemented by other diagnostic tests such as MRI, CSF, and electrophysiology. Tumor therapy remains the mainstay of therapeutic options, although early immune therapy must be started in parallel. It is hoped that the recent fundamental advances in understanding the autoimmune pathology of these disorders, especially the role of cytotoxic T cells, will eventually lead to more effective treatment options

Early pathologic findings and long-term improvement in anti-Ma2-associated encephalitis.

Journal ArticleA 67-year-old man sequentially developed anti-Ma2-associated paraneoplastic encephalitis (PNE) and contralateral herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE). Brain biopsy 1 month before HSE revealed extensive infiltrates of T cells, B cells, and plasma cells. Most T cells expressed the cytotoxic granule-associated protein TIA-1 and the membranolytic protein granzyme-B. Although recovery was thought to be unlikely, treatment of the PNE with corticosteroids and resection of the associated lung cancer resulted in dramatic improvement for 21 months

Phase II trial of natalizumab for the treatment of anti-Hu associated paraneoplastic neurological syndromes

BACKGROUND: Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes with anti-Hu antibodies (Hu-PNS) have a very poor prognosis: more than half of the patients become bedridden and median survival is less than 12 months. Several lines of evidence suggest a pathogenic T cell-mediated immune response. Therefore, we conducted a prospective open-label phase II trial with natalizumab. METHODS: Twenty Hu-PNS patients with progressive disease were treated with a maximum of three monthly natalizumab cycles (300 mg). The primary outcome measure was functional improvement, this was defined as at least one point decrease in modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at the last treatment visit. In addition, treatment response was assessed wherein a mRS score ≤3 after treatment was defined as treatment responsive. RESULTS: The median age at onset was 67.8 years (SD 8.4) with a female predominance (n = 17, 85%). The median time from symptom onset to Hu-PNS diagnosis was 5 months (IQR 2–11). Most patients had subacute sensory neuronopathy (n = 15, 75%), with a median mRS of 4 at baseline. Thirteen patients had a tumor, all small cell lung cancer. After natalizumab treatment, two patients (10%) showed functional improvement. Of the remaining patients, 60% had a stable functional outcome, while 30% showed further deterioration. Treatment response was classified as positive in nine patients (45%). CONCLUSIONS: Natalizumab may ameliorate the disease course in Hu-PNS, but no superior effects above other reported immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory were observed. More effective treatment modalities are highly needed. TRIAL REGISTRATION: https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu/ctr-search/trial/2014-000675-13/N

Are Onconeural Antibodies a Clinical Phenomenology in Paraneoplastic Limbic Encephalitis?

Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNSs) occur in patients with cancer and can cause clinical symptoms and signs of dysfunction of the nervous system that are not due to a local effect of the tumor or its metastases. Most of these clinical syndromes in adults are associated with lung cancer, especially small cell lung cancer (SCLC), lymphoma, and gynecological tumors. The finding of highly specific antibodies directed against onconeural antigens has revolutionized the diagnosis and promoted the understanding of these syndromes and led to the current hypothesis of an autoimmune pathophysiology. Accumulating data strongly suggested direct pathogenicity of these antibodies. The field of PNS has expanded rapidly in the past few years with the discovery of limbic encephalitis associated with glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) 65, the voltage (VGKC-gated potassium channel) complex, the methyl (N-NMDA-D-aspartate), alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA), and gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) (B) receptors, and so forth. Despite this, the clinical spectrum of these diseases has not yet been fully investigated. The clinical importance of these conditions lies in their frequent response to immunotherapies and, less commonly, their association with distinctive tumors. This review provides an overview on the pathogenesis and diagnosis of PNS, with emphasis on the role of antibodies in limbic encephalitis

Etablierung eines Tiermodells für paraneoplastische neurologische Erkrankungen

Bislang ist die Pathogenese paraneoplastischer neurologischer Erkrankungen des zentralen Nervensystems nicht vollständig geklärt. Insgesamt mehreren sich jedoch die Hinweise auf einen zu Grunde liegenden Autoimmmunprozess. Nicht zuletzt die Entdeckung onkoneuronaler Antikörper in Blut und Liquor betroffener Patienten lässt vermuten, dass diese Autoantigene im Rahmen des Krankheitsprozesses angegriffen werden. Bislang gibt es jedoch keinen Beweis für die vielfach favourisierte Autoimmunhypothese, nicht zuletzt ist es bisher wiederholt nicht gelungen die Erkrankung im Tiermodell zu reproduzieren. In dieser Arbeit konnte erstmals gezeigt werden, dass der adoptive Transfer spezifisch gegen die onkoneuronalen Proteine Pnma1 und rYo gerichteten CD4+ Th1 T-Zellen in der Lage ist, in der DA-Ratte eine Enzephalomyelitis zu induzieren. Dazu wurden zunächst die korrespondierenden, bis dahin noch nicht bekannten Ratten-Antigene rPnma1 und rYo kloniert. Verglichen mit ihrem humanen Korrelat zeigte sich auf Aminosäureebene eine Übereinstimmung von .93,8% für das PNMA1 und 85,7% für das Yo Protein. Nach Immunisierung weiblicher Ratten mit dem entsprechenden Antigen wurden aus den drainierenden Lymphknoten ex vivo in vitro spezifische CD4+ TH1 T-Zelllinien gegen diese Proteine generiert. Es konnte schließlich gezeigt werden, dass der Transfer dieser Zellen in naiven Empfängertieren eine Enzephalitis induzieren kann, die nach histopathologischen und lokalisatorischen Kriterien der humanen Erkrankung sehr ähnlich ist. Diese bestand insbesondere aus perivaskulär, teilweise auch parenchymal lokalisierten T-Zellen und Makrophagen und war assoziiert mit Pnma1 vor allem im Mes- und Dienzephalon, assoziiert mit rYo vor allem im Kleinhirn lokalisiert. Ebenso wie es bei der mit anti- Ma oder anti-Yo assoziierten humanen Erkrankung keine Geschlechtsbevorzugung gibt, liess sich die Pnma1-assoziierte Enzephalitis in männlichen und weibliche DA-Ratten induzieren. Die alleinige Immunisierung mit Protein resultierte zwar in hohen Antikörper-Spiegeln, jedoch lediglich mit minimalen histopathologischen Veränderungen assoziiert. Die Induktion entzündlicher ZNS-Veränderung nach Transfer rPnma1- bzw. rYo-spezifischer T-Zellen konnte erstmals zeigen, dass eine Autoimmunreaktion gegen ein neuronales Antigen pathogen sein kann und sützt damit die Autoimmun- und T-Zell-Hypothese bei der Pathogenese dieser Erkrankungen