A Mayo Clinic study found that combined positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) scan of the whole body appears to detect cancer in individuals with paraneoplastic neurologic disorders more accurately than some other commonly used tests. This study was posted online today in Archives of Neurology and will appear in the March print issue.
Paraneoplastic neurological disorders are thought to occur when the immune system of a patient with cancer becomes activated to fight the cancer cells, but accidentally attacks the brain or nerves as well. Paraneoplastic neurological disorders are uncommon and usually appear in patients even before their cancer is diagnosed.
Andrew McKeon, M.B., B.Ch., and colleagues analyzed the medical records of 56 patients with suspected paraneoplastic neurologic disorders whose standard evaluations (including CT) did not reveal cancer. All of them underwent PET-CT at Mayo Clinic between 2005 and 2008. PET-CT detected cancer in 18 percent (10 patients).
According to Dr. McKeon, four of the 10 detected cancers using PET-CT were outside the anatomical scope of CT of the chest, abdomen and pelvis and the other six detected cancers were too small to be detected by appropriate regional CT. Thus, he explains, CT alone is not sufficient to exclude cancer in cases with a high index of suspicion for cancer.
Click here to view an interview with Dr. McKeon conducted by MedPage Today.
I had lung cancer – non small cell – surgery in Dec. 08. Prior to finding the cancer I went to the hospital for severe burning pain in my upper back and then it traveled throughout my entire body. This was joined with naseau,faint feeling, hurt all over. I thought I had some horrible flu. After three years of this I have been told I have paraneoplastic syndroms. Is there a life expectancy for this. I need to know if I should be making final plans, I am a 64 yr old female. I hope someone can give me their input Thank you, Brenda
Brenda, We are forwarding your question to the appropriate area and will do our best to respond as soon as we can. In the meantime, here’s a link to information about paraneoplastic syndrome that may be helpful: http://www.mayoclinic.org/paraneoplastic-syndromes/