page_title: Anti-Hu associated encephalitis
section_title: Cause
hierarchical_section_title: Anti-Hu associated encephalitis / Cause
caption_attribution_description: English: Cutout anatomy diagram of the human limbic system and some nearby structures.
context_page_description: Anti-Hu associated encephalitis, also known as Anti-ANNA1 associated encephalitis, is an uncommon form of brain inflammation that is associated with an underlying cancer. It can cause psychiatric symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and hallucinations. It can also produce neurological symptoms such as confusion, memory loss, weakness, sensory loss, pain, seizures, and problems coordinating the movement of the body.
  While its cause is unknown, the most common hypothesis is that it is caused by an immune system attack on the nervous system. This immune system attack is linked to cancer in most cases, usually small cell lung carcinoma. The condition's namesake, the anti-Hu antibody, is a protein made by the host's immune system, and it is present in virtually all cases. Treatment is focused on removing the underlying cancer and suppressing the immune system. Its prognosis remains quite poor, with most patients dying less than a year after diagnosis.
context_section_description: Anti-Hu associated encephalitis is a syndrome associated with cancer. However, occasionally it occurs without cancer being present. Proteins react within the brain and change behavior and basic biological functions. Primarily adults contract this illness, and typically they have an underlying cancer that is either undiagnosed, diagnosed, in remission, or cured.
  The condition can occur at any point during cancer. Small cell lung cancer is a particularly aggressive cancer more common in smokers and is associated with anti-Hu encephalitis. Neuroblastoma is a cancer more frequently affecting children, and despite the relatively low rates of anti-Hu among children with neuroblastoma, these are the most likely children to have anti-Hu associated encephalitis.
caption: The condition can involve the limbic system of the brain, which mediates key functions within motivation, emotion, learning, and memory.
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