2024-03-03 19:44:31
March 4, 2024
Dr. Wu Bingrong
Brain department
The average life expectancy of Hong Kong people is among the highest in the world. As we age, the incidence of tumors also increases. In addition to being directly affected by tumor metastasis, our nervous system can also produce complications through different pathological mechanisms, such as paraneoplastic syndrome. Disease is an example.
There are many protein structures in cancer cells that can be found in normal tissues in the body. When the body’s immune system attacks these cancer cells, it sometimes produces antibodies once morest these organelles. These immune antibodies are like “missiles” that target specific cells. The protein structure is attacked, but if normal cells contain the same organelles, the antibodies will destroy them regardless of friend or foe.
This condition often involves the organs of the nervous system, causing a variety of symptoms. Common ones include cerebellar dysfunction, immune encephalitis, poliomyelitis, dermatomyositis, and peripheral neuritis.
For example, some patients with lung cancer or breast cancer will produce antibodies once morest Purkinje cells in the cerebellum, and the patients will have symptoms such as cerebellar atrophy, such as hand tremors and unsteady walking. Because there are many causes of cerebellar dysfunction, and these antibodies sometimes appear before clinical signs of tumors appear, doctors may need to undergo lengthy or repeated clinical and laboratory testing to find the cause and the source of the cancer. In recent years, it has been discovered that when some young ladies develop immune encephalitis, they may suffer from psychosis, involuntary body movements, uncontrollable encephalitis, insomnia and some psychiatric symptoms. Special electric waves will appear on the electroencephalogram, which can be found in the body. NMDA receptor antibodies may cause ovarian teratoma in nearly half of patients.
These paraneoplastic syndromes not only cause physical disability, but some also have a high fatality rate. Therefore, getting a correct diagnosis early is of great help in getting appropriate treatment and good prognosis. It is more likely to detect early tumors and increase the chance of complete removal of cancer. Organize the opportunity to achieve complete recovery.
The author is a neurologist
[信健康] Pay attention to paraneoplastic syndromes and pay attention to specialist information
