Studies of Neurological Paraneoplastic Syndromes

Patients usually go to their doctors with neurological complaints and later find they have cancer, a known paraneoplastic syndrome, or neurological problems that suggest a paraneoplastic syndrome. Paraneoplastic syndromes are rare conditions in which the immune system is involved in causing brain damage and fighting cancer. Such patients with paraneoplastic neurologic degenerations(PNDs) may have autoantibodies, an antibody or protein the immune system creates that is directed against his or her own proteins. This study aims to better understand PNDS by: * analyzing for autoantibodies in serum and cerebral spinal fluid * analyzing for antigen specificity and for antigens in cancer tissue * comparing PND autoantibodies with those in cancer patients but no PND * comparing PND autoantibodies with those in PND patients but no cancer * studying the immune performance of patients with PNDs As this study is not a treatment study, tissues for this study will only come from procedures necessary for the patient's treatment.