Paraneoplastic Raynaud’s Phenomenon (Paraneoplastic Acral Vascular Syndrome)

 

Mechanism: unknown. Some paraneoplastic manifestations of hepatocellular carcinoma have been associated with release of prostaglandins.

 

Malignancies associated with paraneoplastic Raynaud’s phenomenon:

(1) hepatocellular carcinoma

(2) lung carcinoma

(3) squamcous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

(4) T-cell lymphoma

 

The onset may precede diagnosis of the tumors by weeks or months.

 

Clinical features:

(1) new onset of Raynaud’s syndrome, especially in an older adult

(2) exclusion of other causes for Raynaud’s

(3) improvement on treatment of underlying tumor