Guillain-Barre Syndrome Associated with Gastric Cancer: Paraneoplastic Syndrome or Immunological Disorder?

Guillain-Barre syndrome is a rare clinical entity classified as an ascending muscle paralysis led by autonomic nervous dysfunction due to autoimmune damage of peripheral nerves. Paraneoplastic Guillain-Barre syndrome has been described in association with some kinds of tumors (B-cell Lymphoma and small cell lung cancer). We describe the case of a 74-year-old woman affected by gastric adenocarcinoma, treated with surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy, who developed simultaneously skin cancer relapse and severe Guillain-Barre syndrome. Although the timing of clinical presentation suggests a paraneoplastic origin, other interesting features were present in this patient such as familial and personal anamnesis for autoimmune disease, HCV infection, and neurotoxic chemotherapy. According to literature, we investigated different pathogenetic hypothesis. According to the poorness of data, further investigations are necessary to establish a relationship between Guillain-Barre syndrome and gastric cancer.