Lack of association between human leukocyte antigens and the anti-Hu syndrome in patients with small-cell lung cancer.

We compared the human leukocyte antigen alleles found in a group of 17 patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), paraneoplastic neurologic syndromes (PNS), and high titers of anti-Hu autoantibodies with those in 30 patients with SCLC but no PNS and no anti-Hu antibodies (control group). There was no difference between the two groups, suggesting that specific haplotypes are not required for the development of the "anti-Hu syndrome."