Prevalence and Meaning of Anti-Hu Antibodies in Small Cell Lung Cancer

Neurologists are familiar with the anti-Hu paraneoplastic syndrome as a combination of limbic encephalopathy and sensory neuropathy, usually in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). However, the prevalence and clinical significance of anti-Hu antibodies in subjects without a paraneoplastic syndrome has not been fully defined. These authors report a consecutive case series of 52 patients with newly diagnosed SCLC and no clinical evidence of a paraneoplastic syndrome. The objectives of this study were to follow anti-Hu antibody titers before and during treatment for SCLC and to describe the clinical features of antibody-positive and antibody-negative subjects.

Nine patients (17%) had positive serum titers of anti-Hu antibodies by Wester…