title: Guillain-Barré syndrome and glioblastoma.
abstract: Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is defined as an acute demyelinating peripheral neuropathy. We describe a case of GBS in a patient with glioblastoma undergoing chemotherapy treatment. A 57 year old woman diagnosed with glioblastoma developed a subacute progressive history of bilateral symmetric numbness of her fingers and toes, belt-type neuropathic pain, a left facial droop and upper and lower extremity muscle weakness. There was no evidence of a tumor mass or leptomeningeal disease in the spine. Electrophysiological studies confirmed the diagnosis. Although rare, GBS should be considered in primary brain tumor patients with generalized acute-subacute progressive weakness that is inconsistent with the location of their tumor, particularly if they are also on chemotherapy contributing to their immunosuppressive state.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuro-oncology, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Unit Number: 431, Room Number: FC7.3057, Houston, TX 77030, USA. imelguizo@mdanderson.org
authors.forename: Isaac
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Melguizo
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.forename: Sudhakar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tummala
mesh_terms: D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000150:complications*; D020275:Guillain-Barre Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged