Evaluating the frequency of positive paraneoplastic antibodies and associated malignancy risk

To evaluate the association between malignancy and frequently positive paraneoplastic antibodies. A retrospective cohort study was carried out for all patients who received paraneoplastic antibody testing in 2013–2014 at a tertiary referral center. Available medical records on included patients were reviewed through July 2020. Patients were divided into antibody positive and negative subgroups. Focused analysis was performed on the subgroup of patients who received testing via a commonly used antibody panel. A total of 1860 patients (the full cohort) received 19,323 antibody testing via panel or individual antibody testing, and were followed-up for a mean period of 36.2 months (range 0–83 months). Altogether 229 antibodies in 196 patients were positive, and 9 (3.9%) in 7 patients were against onconeuronal antigens. The remaining 220 (96.1%) were positive for mostly antibodies against cell surface or synaptic antigens. A total of 1161 patients received Mayo Clinic paraneoplastic antibody panel tests (the panel cohort), and 14.9% (173) of these patients possessed one or more positive antibodies. For the panel cohort, no difference was found between antibody positive and negative groups with respect to the prevalence of previously existing malignancy (15.6% versus 16.6%, p = 0.745) or incidence of new malignancy (4.0% vs. 3.7%, p = 0.848) during the follow-up period. No difference was observed in the incidence of new malignancy during follow-up between the antibody positive and negative groups for the 7 most frequently positive antibodies. The presence of frequently positive antibodies, mostly to cell surface or synaptic antigens, is not clearly associated with the development of malignancy in the subsequent three years. •Paraneoplastic neurological disorders are relatively rare.•Patients with positive paraneoplastic antibodies are screened more robustly for malignancy.•The most frequently positive paraneoplastic antibodies are non-onconeuronal antibodies.•Frequently positive non-onconeuronal antibodies do not carry a higher risk of malignancy.