LAUSR

Malignancies can be accompanied by paraneoplastic symptoms or syndromes, which may be caused by an indirect effect of the malignancy and may be the first sign of a cancer (1–4). The symptom “paraneoplastic itch” (PI) describes itch as a systemic reaction to the presence of a malignancy, “neither induced by the local presence of cancer cells nor by tumour therapy” (3). PI is often associated with haematological malignancies, but has also been reported in patients with solid tumours. Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS) are a group of rare neurological disorders that usually precede the detection of the underlying cancer (4). PNS can affect any part of the nervous system and many are associated with onconeural antibodies (4–6). We report here a patient with generalized pruritus that preceded a paraneoplastic neurological syndrome associated with onconeural anti-Hu antibodies due to large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC). The aim of this report is to highlight the consequence of misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed chronic itch (CI).