Paraneoplastic Syndromes in Patients with Primary Malignancies of the Head and Neck
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Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol (2006) 263: 32–36 DOI 10.1007/s00405-005-0942-1 HEAD AND NECK ONCOLOGY L. W. J. Baijens Æ J. J. Manni Paraneoplastic syndromes in patients with primary malignancies of the head and neck. Four cases and a review of the literature Received: 8 December 2004 / Accepted: 31 January 2005 / Published online: 29 June 2005 Ó Springer-Verlag 2005 Abstract Paraneoplastic syndromes rarely affect pa- patients [5, 13]. Often the paraneoplastic syndrome tients with head and neck cancer. Four patients with presents before the initial symptoms or diagnosis of the different histological types of head and neck cancer are primary malignancy or the recurrent tumour is made [5]. presented in which the primary malignancy was pre- Paraneoplastic syndromes occur in 1 to 7.4% of all ceded and/or accompanied by a paraneoplastic syn- cancer patients [7, 21]. The mechanisms of most para- drome. In the first patient erythrodermia preceded the neoplastic syndromes are not well known. Ectopic hor- diagnosis of a nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The second mone production is probably the most common patient presented with a B cell lymphoma of the mechanism [12]. Immunologic interactions in particular nasopharynx in association with the syndrome of inap- autoimmune responses play an important role in neu- propriate secretion of arginine vasopressine (Schwartz- rological paraneoplastic syndromes [1, 7, 10, 17]. In the Bartter syndrome). In the third patient paraneoplastic literature, paraneoplastic syndromes in association with polyarthritis had been diagnosed 5 months before a head and neck cancer have occasionally been reported. hypopharyngeal carcinoma was diagnosed. In the last Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common histopa- patient the paraneoplastic anti-Hu positive encephalo- thology of the primary malignancy of the head and neck myelitis was associated with a primary malignancy in the associated with paraneoplastic syndromes [12]. Also larynx with neck metastases. Diagnostic procedures, other histological types such as thyroid carcinoma, treatment and follow-up of these patients are reported lymphoma, thymoma, melanoma and paraganglioma of and accompanied by a review of the literature. the head and neck have been reported in association with paraneoplastic syndromes [12]. Ferlito et al. divided Keywords Paraneoplastic syndromes Æ Head and neck paraneoplastic syndromes associated with head and cancer Æ Squamous cell carcinoma Æ Anti-Hu neck cancer in four groups: paraneoplastic dermato- autoantibodies Æ Mucocutaneous lesions logical, endocrine, haematological and neurological syndromes [5]. In the literature more groups are reported such as rheumatological paraneoplastic syndromes [3, 4, 14, 18]. Many dermatological conditions have been de- Introduction scribed as paraneoplastic syndromes, also in head and neck cancer patients. Bazex syndrome is a frequently A paraneoplastic syndrome describes an association of reported paraneoplastic dermatological syndrome [5]. symptoms and signs not directly related to the site or Head and neck cancer has only occasionally been re- local manifestations of a malignant tumour or its ported in association with haematological and neuro- metastases and occurring in a minority of cancer logical syndromes [5]. In the literature cerebellar degeneration and the Eaton-Lambert myasthenia syn- drome are the most reported paraneoplastic neurologi- cal syndromes. They are seldom associated with laryngeal cancers. These neurological syndromes are L. W. J. Baijens (&) Æ J. J. Manni usually associated with small cell lung cancer [16, 17]. Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Serum and cerebrospinal fluid autoantibodies have re- Maastricht University Hospital, PO Box 5800, cently been identified for several neurological paraneo- 6202 AZ Maastricht, The Netherlands plastic syndromes [5, 16]. In this paper we report four E-mail: [email protected] different paraneoplastic syndromes associated with dif- Tel.: +31-433877580 Fax: +31-3875580 ferent primary tumours of the head and neck. 33 of recurrent epistaxis and neck nodes. During the ear, Case report nose and throat examination, a glue ear on the left side was observed. Nasendoscopy revealed a nasopharyngeal Case 1 tumour. Neck nodes were palpated in region II-III on the left side. Gradually she developed an abducens A 60-year-old woman was referred to the dermatological paralysis on the left side. On CT scan the paralysis could department of our university hospital in November 2002 be explained by tumour invasion of the sinus caverno- because of a therapy-resistant generalized erythematous sus. Biopsy of the nasopharynx tumour revealed a car- cutaneous eruption that had developed 2 months pre- cinoma. Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of the viously. At first the skin of the trunk was affected, fol- neck nodes showed a squamous cell carcinoma. The lowed by progression towards the extremities, face and diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma with neck neck (Fig. 1). At the dermatological department, she metastasis and a dermatological paraneoplastic syn- was treated with a diversity of topical medication and drome was made. The tumour was classified as systemic antihistaminics without any effect. Several skin cT4N2M0. Radiotherapy was started in July 2003. In biopsies showed a non-specific chronic dermatitis. Skin 6 weeks a total dose of 70.2 Gy was given. During culture showed normal results. To exclude a paraneo- radiotherapy the skin rash and abducens paralysis dis- plastic syndrome the patient was referred to the appeared. Six months after radiotherapy the patient is departments of internal medicine and gynaecology for still in remission. extensive examination for a primary malignancy. Clini- cal examinations and imaging techniques showed nor- mal results. From that moment she was treated for late Case 2 onset constitutional eczema with cyclosporin and imip- ramine. Despite the medication the erythema persisted. A 71-year-old man visited our out-patient department in In April 2003 she was referred to our department of July 2003 because of bilateral hearing loss since several otorhinolaryngology and head and neck surgery because weeks without other complaints. He had never experi- enced otological problems in the past. He suffered from diabetes mellitus type II, which was treated with oral anti-diabetic medication. During routine ear, nose and throat examination glue ears were found bilaterally. The audiogram showed a bilateral mixed hearing loss with Fletcher index of 45 dB. The mean air bone gap was 25 dB. Endoscopy revealed a suspect lesion in the nasopharynx. Transtympanic ventilation tubes were placed, and nasopharyngeal biopsy was obtained. The diagnosis of a B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma was made. CT scan showed an isolated nasopharyngeal lesion without intracerebral extension. The patient was re- ferred to the department of internal medicine for che- motherapy. Before the therapy was started, he developed a syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH or Schwartz-Bartter syndrome) with weakness and lethargy and excessive blood levels of vasopressin in combination with hyponatremia, which was interpreted as a paraneoplastic syndrome. For the SIADH he was treated with restriction of fluid intake. Chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vin- cristine, prednisolone: CHOP) was started in September 2003. The symptoms of SIADH as well as the primary tumour disappeared after chemotherapy. Five months after the initial treatment the patient is still in remission. Case 3 A 48-year-old man was referred to the department of rheumatology in November 1991 because of acute onset Fig. 1 Report number one: patient with a paraneoplastic derma- pain in several joints. The left knee, shoulders and the tological syndrome. Erythrodermia: generalized erythematous and first metatarsophalangeal joint on the left side were in- elevated cutaneous eruption with scaling and pruritus volved, soon followed by an inflammatory swelling of 34 the left knee. There were no rheumatoid nodules. Family October 2003 before radiotherapy of the supraglottic history of rheumatoid arthritis was negative. Blood tests malignancy was started. were negative for the Waaler-Rose test, complement factors III and IV and anti-nuclear factor. Skin and muscle biopsies showed normal tissue. CT Discussion scans of the thorax and abdomen and skeletal X-rays were normal. The diagnosis of an unclassified collagen The exact incidence of paraneoplastic syndromes in disease or vasculitis was made. The patient showed a association with head and neck cancer is not known. In very good response on treatment with a high dose of the literature paraneoplastic syndromes in association prednisone. Five months later he developed dysphagia with head and neck cancer are mostly described in case and dysphonia. He was referred to our department. A reports or review articles. In Table 1 the localisation and cT4N2cM0 hypopharynxcarcinoma was diagnosed. histological types of the paraneoplastic syndromes most A diagnosis of a paraneoplastic syndrome preceding a commonly associated with head and neck cancer are head and neck cancer was made. A laryngopharyngec- presented. Generally paraneoplastic syndromes are tomy with radical neck dissection on the right side and classified in four major groups as mentioned in the modified (functional) neck dissection on the left side was introduction. Three of the four patients fit in this classi- performed. During postoperative radiotherapy he fication. The fourth