Guillain-Barré Syndrome as a Paraneoplastic Manifestation of Small-Cell Carcinoma of Lung

Abstract

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) encompasses the variants of acute immune-mediated polyneuropathies usually preceded by an infection. A few case reports have associated GBS to neoplastic diseases. It remains unclear whether these are merely coincidental or represent paraneoplastic phenomena. The clinical features of GBS associated with oncological cases do not appear to differ from post-infectious GBS. We report a 74-year-old man in whom small cell carcinoma of lung (SCLC) was diagnosed during a presentation with GBS. Treatment with chemotherapy for SCLC and intravenous immunoglobulins led to complete neurological recovery and tumor regression.