Clinical and Immunologic Aspects of Cancer-associated Retinopathy

Purpose: To report clinical and immunologic aspects of cancer-associated retinopathy (CAR).

Design: Observational consecutive case series.

Methods: A retrospective review was made of 18 consecutive patients with cancer-associated retinopathy who had antiretinal antibody determination by Western blot testing.

Results: Clinically, a variety of ophthalmic observations including electroretinography impairment, retinal vessel narrowing, deterioration of visual acuity, visual field changes, and uveitis were frequently observed. As retinal autoantigens in the 18 cases, recoverin was found in all 18 cases (100%), heat shock cognate protein 70 (HSC70) was found in six cases (33%), and other proteins were found in four cases (20%). These antibodies were detected in only 60% of the patients at the initial examination, however, and then became increasingly apparent on the subsequent testing that was performed three times on serum samples obtained sequentially during the following months.

Conclusion: For diagnosis of cancer-associated retinopathy, the presence of serum autoantibody toward recoverin is essentially required in addition to the characteristic clinical aspects noted above.