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Myasthenia Gravis

MG and radiation

01/11/2005

Question:

I am having chemotherapy for an ovarian tumor and will soon be starting pelvic/abdominal radiation. My neurologist says the radiation may put the MG into remission but the radiation oncologist isn`t as optimistic. Do you have any information or thoughts on this?

Answer:

There are anecdotal reports of myasthenia associated with ovarian cancer, but it is unclear whether these are just incidental diseases occurring at the same time. If your myasthenia is truly related to ovarian tumor or cancer as a paraneoplastic phenomenon, then treating the underlying tumor should theoretically help the myasthenia. More common paraneoplastic diseases associated with ovarian tumors include cerebellar disorders and neuropathy. A more common tumor associated with myasthenia gravis is thymoma.

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Response by:

University of Cincinnati Robert W Neel, IV, MD
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Department of Neurology
College of Medicine
University of Cincinnati
Robert W Neel, IV, MD