title: Anti-Yo antibody-mediated paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration in a female patient with pleural malignant mesothelioma.
abstract: Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration is a rare non-metastatic complication of malignancies. It presents with acute or subacute onset of ataxia, dysarthria and intention tremor. Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration is most commonly associated with malignancies of the ovary, breast and lung. The anti-Yo (anti-Purkinje cells) antibodies that specifically damage the Purkinje cells of the cerebellum are found in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid. Anti-Yo-related paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration is most commonly found in women with gynecological and breast cancers, but it is reported in other malignancies. Patients with paraneoplastic syndromes most often present with neurologic symptoms before an underlying cancer is detected. We report a case of anti-Yo-related paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration associated with pleural malignant mesothelioma in a 51-year-old female patient. She presented to our department with a 2-week history after the last chemotherapy of progressive dizziness related to head movement, nausea, vomiting, ataxia and unsteady gait. A western blot assay was negative for anti-Hu, anti-Ri, anti-Ma2, anti-CV2 and anti-amphiphysin paraneoplastic antibody markers but positive for anti-Yo. In conclusion, we report a case of paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration in a patient with pleural malignant mesothelioma because of the rarity of this neurologic presentation after the diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma and of the association with anti-Yo antibodies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Mugla Sitki Kocman University Education and Research Hospital, Mugla, Turkey. ozgurtanriverdi@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Ozgur
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tanriverdi
authors.forename: Nezih
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Meydan
authors.forename: Sabri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barutca
authors.forename: Nazan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ozsan
authors.forename: Duygu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gurel
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Veral
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D020362:Paraneoplastic Cerebellar Degeneration / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology*; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: C095184:CDR2 protein, human; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins