Demyelination in the brain as a paraneoplastic disorder: candidates include some cases of multiple sclerosis
Abstrakt
We read with interest the epidemiology report of Sumelahti et al. regarding the incidence of cancer in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in Finland. The incidence of hematologic malignancies was clearly somewhat elevated in MS patients compared to the general population, and the incidence of central nervous system tumors was markedly elevated in MS patients.
The high concurrence rate of certain types of malignancies with MS was unexpected and diffi cult to explain. In the case of hematologic malignancies the authors suggested a potential common infectious etiology, but then acknowledged several factors which argue against this possibility.
In the case of brain tumors, which also had a strong temporal correlation with MS, the authors suggested a potential 'misclassifi cation', but again acknowledged factors which argued against this.