Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration as a marker of endometrial cancer recurrence

An 84-year-old woman developed a cerebellar syndrome having undergone a total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy for endometrial cancer 1 year previously. She was found to be anti-Yo antibody positive and was diagnosed with paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD). A subsequent positron emission tomography scan and lymph node biopsy identified recurrence of her endometrial cancer. This case illustrates how PCD can be an indicator of cancer recurrence, underlines the significance of PCD as a prompt to search for underlying malignancy, and highlights the difficulties PCD poses to the clinician in terms of diagnosis and management.