Paraneoplastic Neurologic Disorders: A Brief Overview.

Immune-mediated paraneoplastic neurologic disorders (PND) may affect any part of the nervous system, and can mimic many non-cancer associated disorders. The availability of diagnostic tests based on the presence of specific anti-neuronal antibodies facilitates diagnosis and can suggest treatment strategies. Once thought to be poorly responsive to therapies, it is now recognized that there is a subgroup of PND, mostly associated with antibodies to antigens on the neuronal cell surface that are highly treatment responsive. For all PND, identification and treatment of the underlying tumor is the most effective step in the potential control or stabilization of the neurological disorder.