Paraneoplastic opsoclonus myoclonus (Q100589)

Paraneoplastic opsoclonus myoclonus (OM) results from a targeted attack on the brainstem as a consequence of a potentially effective tumour immune response initiated by onco-neural antigens derived from a systemic cancer. In children the cancer is almost always neuroblastoma, while in adults a variety of cancers may be detected but small-cell lung cancers and breast cancers are most common. In adults paraneoplastic OM it is often associated with the neural autoantibody anti-neuronal nuclear antibody type 2 [ANNA-2 or anti-Ri], but other neural autoantibodies may also accompany OM. Associated autoantibodies: ANNA-2(anti-Ri) (antineuronal nuclear autoantibody type 2); NMDA-R (N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor autoantibodies).