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      Increased frequency of anti-Ma2 encephalitis associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors

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          Abstract

          Objective

          To report the induction of anti–Ma2 antibody–associated paraneoplastic neurologic syndrome (Ma2-PNS) in 6 patients after treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). We also analyzed (1) patient clinical features compared with a cohort of 44 patients who developed Ma2-PNS without receiving ICI treatment and (2) the frequency of neuronal antibody detection before and after ICI implementation.

          Methods

          Retrospective nationwide study of all patients with Ma2-PNS developed during ICI treatment between 2017 and 2018.

          Results

          Our series of patients included 5 men and 1 woman (median age, 63 years). The patients were receiving nivolumab (n = 3), pembrolizumab (n = 2), or a combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab (n = 1) for treatment of neoplasms that included lung (n = 4) and kidney (n = 1) cancers and pleural mesothelioma (n = 1). Clinical syndromes comprised a combination of limbic encephalitis and diencephalitis (n = 3), isolated limbic encephalitis (n = 2), and a syndrome characterized by ophthalmoplegia and head drop (n = 1). No significant clinical difference was observed between our 6 patients and the overall cohort of Ma2-PNS cases. Post-ICI Ma2-PNS accounted for 35% of the total 17 Ma2-PNS diagnosed in our center over the 2017–2018 biennium. Eight cases had been detected in the preceding biennium 2015–2016, corresponding to a 112% increase of Ma2-PNS frequency since the implementation of ICIs in France. Despite ICI withdrawal and immunotherapy, 4/6 patients died, and the remaining 2 showed a moderate to severe disability.

          Conclusions

          We show a clear association between ICI use and increased diagnosis of Ma2-PNS. Physicians need to be aware that ICIs can trigger Ma2-PNS because clinical presentation can be challenging.

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          Most cited references22

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          Anti-Hu-associated paraneoplastic encephalomyelitis: analysis of 200 patients.

          We reviewed 200 patients with paraneoplastic encephalomyelitis (PEM) and anti-Hu antibodies to show possible clinical differences with respect to previous series, and to identify patient, tumour and treatment-related characteristics associated with neurological disability and survival. The median age of the 200 patients was 63 years (range 28-82 years) and 75% were men. The predominant neurological syndromes were sensory neuropathy (54%), cerebellar ataxia (10%), limbic encephalitis (9%) and multifocal involvement (11%). Sensorimotor neuropathies with predominant motor involvement were observed in only 4% of the patients. Pathological or X-ray evidence of a tumour was obtained in 167 patients (83%) and was a small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) in 74% of those with histological diagnosis. Coexistence of extrathoracic tumours with SCLC was rare (0.5%). Positive Hu immunoreactivity was observed in the extrathoracic tumours of six out of seven patients in whom autopsy or long-term follow-up ruled out a coexisting SCLC. PEM preceded the diagnosis of the tumour in 71% of patients (mean delay +/- SD 6.5 +/- 7.0 months; range 0.1-47 months). In the 24 patients in whom the tumour diagnosis was the initial event, PEM predicted the progression or relapse of the tumour in 87% of them. No tumour was found in 33 patients, including four who had a post-mortem study and four with >5 years of follow-up. In a logistic regression analysis, treatment of the tumour, associated or not with immunotherapy, was an independent predictor of improvement/stabilization of PEM [odds ratio 4.56; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.62-12.86]. Cox multivariate analysis indicated that the variables independently associated with mortality were: age >60 years [relative risk (RR) 1.49; 95% CI 1.05-2.12], Rankin score at diagnosis >3 (RR 1.60; 95% CI 1.12-2.28), more than one area of the nervous system affected (RR 1.61; 95% CI 1.08-2.40), and absence of treatment (RR 2.56; 95% CI 1.76-3.71). We conclude that, unlike previous series, the majority of our patients were male, and there was a low occurrence of predominantly motor neuropathies and extrathoracic tumours coexisting with SCLC. When the diagnosed extrathoracic tumour expresses Hu antigens, further tests to rule out a coexisting SCLC are probably unnecessary. Finally, the predictors of mortality and PEM evolution found in the study may be important in the design of future therapeutic protocols, and emphasize the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of the underlying tumour.
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            Clinical analysis of anti-Ma2-associated encephalitis.

            Increasing experience indicates that anti-Ma2-associated encephalitis differs from classical paraneoplastic limbic or brainstem encephalitis, and therefore may be unrecognized. To facilitate its diagnosis we report a comprehensive clinical analysis of 38 patients with anti-Ma2 encephalitis. Thirty-four (89%) patients presented with isolated or combined limbic, diencephalic or brainstem dysfunction, and four with other syndromes. Considering the clinical and MRI follow-up, 95% of the patients developed limbic, diencephalic or brainstem encephalopathy. Only 26% had classical limbic encephalitis. Excessive daytime sleepiness affected 32% of the patients, sometimes with narcolepsy-cataplexy and low CSF hypocretin. Additional hormonal or MRI abnormalities indicated diencephalic-hypothalamic involvement in 34% of the patients. Eye movement abnormalities were prominent in 92% of the patients with brainstem dysfunction, but those with additional limbic or diencephalic deficits were most affected; 60% of these patients had vertical gaze paresis that sometimes evolved to total external ophthalmoplegia. Three patients developed atypical parkinsonism, and two a severe hypokinetic syndrome with a tendency to eye closure and dramatic reduction of verbal output. Neurological symptoms preceded the tumour diagnosis in 62% of the patients. Brain MRI abnormalities were present in 74% of all patients and 89% of those with limbic or diencephalic dysfunction. Among the 34 patients with cancer, 53% had testicular germ-cell tumours. Two patients without evidence of cancer had testicular microcalcification and one cryptorchidism, risk factors for testicular germ-cell tumours. After neurological syndrome development, 17 of 33 patients received oncological treatment (nine also immunotherapy), 10 immunotherapy alone, and six no treatment. Overall, 33% of the patients had neurological improvement, three with complete recovery; 21% had long-term stabilization, and 46% deteriorated. Features significantly associated with improvement or stabilization included, male gender, age <45 years, testicular tumour with complete response to treatment, absence of anti-Ma1 antibodies and limited CNS involvement. Immunosuppression was not found to be associated with improvement but was clearly effective in some patients. Fifteen patients (10 women, five men) had additional antibodies to Ma1. These patients were more likely to have tumours other than testicular cancer and to develop ataxia, and had a worse prognosis than patients with only anti-Ma2 antibodies (two women, 21 men); 67% of deceased patients had anti-Ma1 antibodies. Anti-Ma2 encephalitis (with or without anti-Ma1 antibodies) should be suspected in patients with limbic, diencephalic or brainstem dysfunction, MRI abnormalities in these regions, and inflammatory changes in the CSF. In young male patients, the primary tumour is usually in the testis, in other patients the leading neoplasm is lung cancer.
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              Association of Autoimmune Encephalitis With Combined Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Treatment for Metastatic Cancer.

              Paraneoplastic encephalitides usually precede a diagnosis of cancer and are often refractory to immunosuppressive therapy. Conversely, autoimmune encephalitides are reversible conditions that can occur in the presence or absence of cancer.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Neurol Neuroimmunol Neuroinflamm
                Neurol Neuroimmunol Neuroinflamm
                nnn
                NEURIMMINFL
                Neurology® Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation
                Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (Hagerstown, MD )
                2332-7812
                07 August 2019
                November 2019
                07 August 2019
                : 6
                : 6
                : e604
                Affiliations
                From the Centre National de Référence pour les Syndromes Neurologiques Paranéoplasiques (A.V., M.F., B.J., G.P., V.R., A.-L.P., S.M.-C., F.D., V.D., J.H.), Hospices Civils de Lyon, Hôpital Neurologique; Synatac Team, NeuroMyoGene Institute, INSERM U1217/CNRS UMR5310, Lyon, France; University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université de Lyon; Service de Pneumologie-Oncologie Thoracique-Soins Intensifs Respiratoires (M.R.), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Rouen; Service d'Oncologie Médicale (J.R.), Institut de Cancérologie de l'Ouest René Gauducheau, St. Herblain; Service de Pneumologie (C.D.), Centre Hospitalier de Saint-Quentin; Service de Neurologie et Unité Neuro-Vasculaire—Hôpital de La Cavale Blanche (L.G.), Brest; Service de Neurologie et Unité Neurovasculaire (M.P.-G.), Centre Hospitalier Régional d'Orléans; Service de Neurologie—Pathologies Inflammatoires (J.L.), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lille; and AP-HP (D.P.), Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Service de Neurologie 2-Mazarin et Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, Centre de Recherche de l'Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière (CRICM), UMRS 975; Inserm U 975, CNRS, UMR 7225; Centre de Compétence des Syndromes Neurologiques Paraneoplasiques et Encéphalites Autoimmunes, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France.
                Author notes
                Correspondence Dr. Honnorat jerome.honnorat@ 123456chu-lyon.fr

                Go to Neurology.org/NN for full disclosures. Funding information is provided at the end of the article.

                [*]

                These authors contributed equally to the manuscript.

                Data access, responsibility, and analysis: The corresponding author had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

                The Article Processing Charge was funded by Institut Neuromyogène INSERM U1217 CNRS 5310.

                Article
                NEURIMMINFL2019021188
                10.1212/NXI.0000000000000604
                6705619
                31454760
                1b37403a-7531-4515-98e9-285196c1f90e
                Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Neurology.

                This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND), which permits downloading and sharing the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal.

                History
                : 24 April 2019
                : 08 July 2019
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