Paraneoplastic syndromes

PubMed, the internet portal of biomedical and life sciences literature, indexed an article,entitled “Paraneoplastic hormonal syndromes“ (An Sist Sanit Navar. 2005 May-Aug;28(2):213-26). Authors are Forga L, Anda E and Martinez de Esteban J from the Servicio de Endocrinologia, Hospital de Navarra, Pamplona, Espana. Paraneoplastic syndromes can be defined as a combination of effects occurring far from the original location of the tumour and independently from the local repercussion of its metastases. Paraneoplastic hormonal syndromes depend on the secretion of hormonal peptides, cytokines and, more rarely, thyroidal hormones and Vitamin D. Sometimes, paraneoplastic syndromes can be more serious than the consequences of the primary tumour itself and can precede, develop in parallel, or follow the manifestations of this tumour. It is important to recognise a paraneoplastic hormonal syndrome for several reasons: 1)It can lead to the diagnosis of a previously undetected, underlying malign or benign neoplasia; 2)It can dominate the clinical picture and thus lead to errors with respect to the origin and type of primary tumour; and 3)It can follow the clinical course of the underlying tumour and thus be useful for monitoring its evolution. The molecular mechanisms responsible for the development of these syndromes are not well-known, but it is believed that they might be inherent to the mutations responsible for the primary tumour or depend on epigenetic factors such as methylation. To access the full abstract of the article, click here.