Project description:BACKGROUND:Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes are rare conditions where an autoimmune reaction against the nervous system appears in patients suffering from a tumour, but not linked to the spreading of the tumour. A break in the immune tolerance is thought to be the trigger. METHODS:The transcriptomic profile of 12 ovarian tumours (OT) from patients suffering from paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD) linked to anti-Yo antibodies (anti-Yo PCD OT) was compared with 733 ovarian tumours (OT control) from different public databases using linear model analysis. RESULTS:A prominent significant transcriptomic over-representation of CD8+ and Treg cells was found in anti-Yo PCD OT, as compared to the OT control. However, the overall degree of immune cell infiltration was similar, according to the ESTIMATE immune score. We also found an under-representation of M2 macrophages in anti-Yo PCD OT. Furthermore, the differentially expressed genes were enriched for AIRE-related genes, a well-known transcription factor associated with a broad range of autoimmune diseases. Finally, we found that the differentially expressed genes were correlated to the transcriptomic profiling of the cerebellar structures. CONCLUSIONS:Our data pinpointed the enrichment of acquired immune response, particularly high density of CD8+ lymphocytes, and high-level expression of CDR-related antigens in anti-Yo PCD OT.
Project description:Paraneoplastic neurologic syndromes (PNS) are a rare heterogeneous group of disorders associated with malignancy that can result in significant functional impairment. One syndrome in particular, paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD), may be severely disabling. PCD is a rare neurological syndrome, associated with active or subclinical cancer, characterized by acute or subacute onset cerebellar ataxia due to tumor-induced autoimmunity against cerebellar antigens. Treatment of paraneoplastic syndromes is generally unsatisfactory, but early diagnosis and treatment of PCD, which includes neurological treatment, immunotherapy and oncological treatment of associated malignancy, may improve the neurological prognosis. We reported the case of a 59-year-old woman who presented PCD as the first sign of ovarian cancer. Laboratory investigations showed the presence of anti-Yo antibodies in the serum. The brain MRI revealed specific modifications for PCD. After oncological treatment, intravenous immunoglobulin therapy and corticosteroid therapy, the oncological response was satisfactory, but no improvement of the neurologic symptoms was achieved.
Project description:Yo antibodies are associated with paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD). We have characterized Yo sera by measuring CDR2 and CDR2L antibodies and the localization of their antigens.Forty-two Yo sera from patients with paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS), 179 sera from ovarian and 114 sera from breast cancer patients without PNS and 100 blood donors were screened for CDR2 and CDR2L antibodies by radioactive immune assay (RIA). Fluorescence microscopy was also used to determine the presence of CDR2 or CDR2L antibodies by staining of HeLa cells transfected with CDR2 or CDR2L fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP). Confocal microscopy was further used to localize the CDR2 and CDR2L proteins.RIA showed that 36 of the 42 Yo positive sera contained CDR2 and CDR2L antibodies whereas 6 sera contained only CDR2 antibodies. Five of the ovarian cancer patients had CDR2L antibodies and 4 of the breast cancer patients had either CDR2 or CDR2L antibodies. Only patients with both antibodies had PCD. RIA and staining of transfected cells showed similar results. Yo antibodies were not present in the 100 blood donors. Confocal microscopy showed that CDR2 and CDR2L were localized to the cytoplasm, whereas CDR2L was also present on the cell membrane.Yo sera usually contain CDR2 and CDR2L antibodies and both antibodies are associated with PCD. Since only CDR2L is localized to the cell membrane it is likely that CDR2L antibodies may be of primary pathogenic importance for the development of PCD.
Project description:Patients with isolated ZIC4 antibodies usually have paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) but the frequency is unknown. We analyzed the presence of ZIC1, ZIC2 and ZIC4 antibodies in 27 patients with PCD and SCLC negative for other onconeural antibodies. ZIC antibodies were detected in nitrocellulose filters with phage plaques. Four (15%) PCD sera recognized ZIC2. Three of these positive sera also reacted with ZIC1 and two with ZIC4. Our study suggests that 1) the incidence of isolated ZIC antibodies is low in PCD patients and SCLC and 2) ZIC antibodies are probably directed to epitopes shared by the three ZIC proteins.
Project description:Background and objectivesParaneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD) with anti-Yo antibodies is a cancer-related autoimmune disease directed against neural antigens expressed by tumor cells. A putative trigger of the immune tolerance breakdown is genetic alteration of Yo antigens. We aimed to identify the tumors' genetic and immune specificities involved in Yo-PCD pathogenesis.MethodsUsing clinicopathologic data, immunofluorescence (IF) imaging, and whole-transcriptome analysis, 22 breast cancers (BCs) associated with Yo-PCD were characterized in terms of oncologic characteristics, genetic alteration of Yo antigens, differential gene expression profiles, and morphofunctional specificities of their in situ antitumor immunity by comparing them with matched control BCs.ResultsYo-PCD BCs were invasive carcinoma of no special type, which early metastasized to lymph nodes. They overexpressed human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) but were hormone receptor negative. All Yo-PCD BCs carried at least 1 genetic alteration (variation or gain in copy number) on CDR2L, encoding the main Yo antigen that was found aberrantly overexpressed in Yo-PCD BCs. Analysis of the differentially expressed genes found 615 upregulated and 54 downregulated genes in Yo-PCD BCs compared with HER2-driven control BCs without PCD. Ontology enrichment analysis found significantly upregulated adaptive immune response pathways in Yo-PCD BCs. IF imaging confirmed an intense immune infiltration with an overwhelming predominance of immunoglobulin G-plasma cells.DiscussionThese data confirm the role of genetic alterations of Yo antigens in triggering the immune tolerance breakdown but also outline a specific biomolecular profile in Yo-PCD BCs, suggesting a cancer-specific pathogenesis.
Project description:BackgroundParaneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD) is a classical tumor-associated, immune-mediated disease typically associated with gynecological malignancies, small-cell lung-cancer or lymphoma.Case presentationHere we present the case of a 38-year old male with an over 12 months rapidly progressive cerebellar syndrome. Extensive diagnostic workup revealed selective hypermetabolism of the right tonsil in whole-body PET. Histological examination after tonsillectomy demonstrated a lymphoepithelial carcinoma of the tonsil and the tongue base strongly suggesting a paraneoplastic cause of the cerebellar syndrome. To the best of our knowledge this is the first case of an association of a lymphoepithelial carcinoma, a rare pharyngeal tumor, with PCD.ConclusionsIn cases of classical paraneoplastic syndromes an extensive search for neoplasms should be performed including whole-body PET to detect tumors early in the course of the disease.
Project description:ObjectiveTo determine sensitivity and specificity of a standardized recombinant cell-based indirect immunofluorescence assay (RC-IFA) for anti-Tr antibodies in comparison to a reference procedure.MethodsDelta/Notch-like epidermal growth factor-related receptor (DNER) was expressed in HEK293 and used as a substrate for RC-IFA. HEK293 control cells expressing CDR2/Yo and CDR2L as well as mock-transfected HEK293 cells were used as controls. Serum samples from 38 patients with anti-Tr antibodies (33 with paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration [PCD] and Hodgkin lymphoma), 66 patients with anti-Tr-negative PCD, 53 patients with Hodgkin lymphoma without neurologic symptoms, 40 patients with rheumatic diseases, and 42 healthy blood donors were tested for anti-DNER reactivity in the RC-IFA. In addition, RC-IFA results were compared to those from a commercial tissue-based IFA using monkey cerebellum.ResultsUsing the RC-IFA, anti-DNER was detected in all anti-Tr-positive patients but in none of the controls (sensitivity 100%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 92.8%-100%; specificity 100%, 95% CI 98.7%-100%). In comparison, anti-Tr was not detected in 4 samples with low-titer autoantibodies using the commercial tissue-based assay. Preadsorption of sera with either recombinant full-length DNER or its extracellular domain selectively abolished anti-Tr reactivity.ConclusionAnti-Tr antibodies bind to the extracellular domain of DNER and can be detected by RC-IFA using HEK293 cells expressing the recombinant receptor. The new method performs better than a frequently used commercial tissue-based indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) in samples with low-titer antibodies.Classification of evidenceThis study provides Class II evidence that RC-IFA accurately detects anti-Tr as compared to conventional IFA.
Project description:Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD) is a rare nonmetastatic neurological complication often associated with ovarian, breast, and other gynecologic cancers. Anti-Yo is one of the antionconeural antibodies found in patients with PCD. It primarily emerges before a malignancy is detected.In this report, we describe an unusual case involving a patient who exhibited anti-Yo-positive PCD 1 year after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer.Histopathology of the resected tissues and Antineuronal antibody testing.The patient was treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG, 1 g/d) for 1 week and a large-dose of methylprednisolone (0.4 g/kg/d) for 5 days. At the same time, underlying complications were prevented actively, and the peripheral nerves were protected.Although most patients with anti-Yo-positive PCD do not improve after treatment, our patient significantly improved after receiving active and effective treatment.
Project description:To compare transcriptomic data from ovarian cancers related to PCD with anti-Yo antibodies with control ovarian cancers from published data
Project description:Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD) is one of the most prevalent neurological paraneoplastic syndromes, typically associated with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). PCD is thought to be caused by proteins expressed by tumor cells which trigger an antibody-mediated immune response. Despite PCD being commonly associated with anti-Yo, anti-Hu and anti-Tr/DNER antibodies, PCD is the most prevalent paraneoplastic syndrome in patients harboring anti-Zic4 antibodies. We report what, to our knowledge, is the first known case of anti-Zic4 mediated PCD in a patient with EGFR-mutated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Our patient was in complete response (CR) to targeted therapy and presented to the emergency room with drowsiness, unsteady gait and memory lapses. The diagnostic work-up revealed a diffuse cerebellar atrophy in the MRI, ruling out brain metastasis and leptomeningeal carcinomatosis. A body-CT scan showed no signs of recurrent disease. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was within normal parameters. An onconeural antibody panel was conducted in a peripheral blood sample, detecting high levels of anti-Zic4 antibody by indirect immunofluorescence (IFI), results later confirmed by immunoblot testing. With the suspected diagnosis of an anti-Zic4 PCD, the case was discussed with the neurology department and treatment with high dose methylprednisolone was initiated. Considering the lack of substantial clinical benefit, the patient was then treated with intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG) for 5 days, showing modest improvement. At this time, the patient presented minor disease relapse in the form of a sub-centimetric pulmonary nodule. Despite one cycle of chemotherapy, the patient's neurological condition deteriorated leading to fatal pneumonia secondary to progressive dysphagia. There is scarce evidence of paraneoplastic syndromes in EGFR-mutated NSCLC. Further research is warranted to stablish a possible association between anti-Zic4 and the EGFR molecular pathway.