Therapeutic case conference from Northwestern: an elderly gentleman with an unsteady gait

We provide a Therapeutic Conference from Northwestern based on the case of a 63-year-old man who presented with cerebellar ataxia in the setting of a negative workup for a cerebrovascular event, toxic-metabolic, and infectious etiologies and was ultimately diagnosed with a paraneoplastic syndrome secondary to limited-stage small cell lung cancer. A discussion of the clinical management including diagnostic workup and treatment of cerebellar ataxia paraneoplastic syndrome and limited-stage small cell lung cancer is provided. We also discuss the mechanisms of action of chemotherapy used to treat limited-stage small cell lung cancer and potential side effects associated with these agents.