Polymyositis as a presentation of advanced carcinoma of Mullerian origin: A case report and discussion

Paraneoplastic syndromes are rare, occurring in <1% of all patients with cancer (Chandiramani et al., 2006). While rare, typical presentations of paraneoplastic phenomena are increasingly well-characterized and understood (Pelosof and Gerber, 2010). They often result from the secretion of active substances by tumors or from the development of cross-reactive antibodies in the setting of malignancy; many of these specific processes are well-characterized (Pelosof and Gerber, 2010). Atypical presentations of paraneoplastic phenomena, however, continue to present a challenge to the timely diagnosis of new malignancies. For instance, while dermatomyositis has been clearly associated with ovarian cancer (Stockton et al., 2001), polymyositis (without dermatologic features) has only been identified as a presenting symptom of ovarian cancer in rare case reports (Davis and Ahmed, 1997; Ghosh et al., 2007; Iavazzo et al., 2007; Kalogiannidis et al., 2008; Raizman et al., 2017). Because of its rare and atypical presentation, we present a case of carcinoma of Mullerian origin, initially presenting with symptoms of polymyositis (PM).