Аннотация:Abstract Anti‐Hu antibodies (Hu‐Abs) were positive in 40 patients with paraneoplastic sensory neuropathy (PSN) and in 1 patient with idiopathic sensory neuropathy in a series of 126 patients who presented with clinical features suggestive of PSN. The specificity of Hu‐Abs was 99% and the sensitivity was 82%. Nine (18%) PSN patients were Hu‐Ab–negative, and their sera did not harbor other specific anti‐neuronal of anti‐ganglioside antibodies. Small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) was the leading neoplasm in the Hu‐Ab–positive (79%) and Hu‐Ab–negative (44%) groups. This study confirms the value of Hu‐Abs for the diagnosis of PSN and SCLC and also emphasizes that in patients with possible PSN, the absence of Hu‐Abs does not exclude cancer, particularly in those patients with risk factors for SCLC.
