2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer (Posters)-P2.31. Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome is Underrecognized in Small Cell Lung Cancer: An Analysis of Real-World Data

P2.31. Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome is Underrecognized in Small Cell Lung Cancer: An Analysis of Real-World Data - PDF(Abstract)

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The study presented at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in 2023 aimed to investigate the frequency of Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) diagnoses among patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in the United States. LEMS is a paraneoplastic neurologic syndrome estimated to occur in 3% of SCLC cases. However, due to overlapping symptoms with SCLC or its treatment, the comorbid LEMS may go unrecognized.<br /><br />The researchers analyzed healthcare claims from longitudinal databases covering oncology and LEMS from 2014 to 2022 and 2017 to 2022, respectively. A total of 46,996 SCLC patients were included in the study, among whom 77 (0.16%) had LEMS claims. Among the subset of 8,513 patients with continuous healthcare utilization, 16 (0.19%) had LEMS.<br /><br />Furthermore, among the patients in the LEMS database, 76 of them had SCLC, with a mean age of 64.8 years. Interestingly, the diagnosis of LEMS preceded the diagnosis of SCLC in 14% of cases, always in conjunction with neurologist visits. However, in 12% of cases, the diagnosis of LEMS lagged behind the diagnosis of SCLC by 12 months.<br /><br />The study concludes that LEMS is the most common paraneoplastic neurologic syndrome associated with SCLC, but it may be underdiagnosed among US patients. Claims for LEMS were less than 1/10th of the estimated prevalence. The underdiagnosis of LEMS and other paraneoplastic neurologic syndromes could lead to undertreatment. Therefore, the researchers suggest the need for standardized screening and paraneoplastic antibody testing to improve the diagnosis and treatment of LEMS and other paraneoplastic neurologic syndromes associated with SCLC.

Asset Subtitle

David Morrell

Meta Tag

Speaker David Morrell

Topic Global Health, Health Services & Health Economics: Real World Data

Keywords

Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome

LEMS

small cell lung cancer

SCLC

paraneoplastic neurologic syndrome

diagnosis

frequency

underdiagnosis

prevalence

treatment