What is Paraneoplastic Cerebellar Degeneration (PCD)?
A paraneoplastic syndrome is an autoimmune disease, similar to diseases such as Lupus, rheumatoid arthritis or psoraisis. A ‘neoplasm’ is a cancer, whereas a ‘paraneoplasm’ is an antibody produced by a patient’s own immune system to keep cancer at bay – sort of like nature’s chemotherapy. In most cases these cancer-fighting antibodies focus their attack on the cancer cells. A paraneoplastic syndrome occurs when a cancer victim produces antibodies that end up attacking not only the cancer, but also healthy cells. In rare instances the paraneoplastic antibodies attack the cerebellum, the area of the brain located at the lower back of the head, just above the brain stem and below the cerebral cortex.
