an encephalomyelopathy as a remote effect of carcinoma, most often oat cell carcinoma of the lung; characterized by extensive nerve cell loss, which may be diffuse, but often predominates in particular portions of the central nervous system, particularly the limbic lobes, medulla, cerebellum, and gray matter of the spinal cord. SYN: carcinomatous encephalomyelopathy, encephalomyelitis associated with carcinoma, paracarcinomatous encephalomyelopathy.