Abstract
Radiotherapy (RT) remains a kind of front-line treatment for the control of tumor growth, especially for brain cancer. It is well known that cognitive impairment is mainly caused by cerebral RT, but the mechanisms underlying radiation-induced cognitive impairment remain unclear. There are different views on the cognitive dysfunction caused by RT in different studies. The recently research evidences about this topic are reviewed in present work. We found a few of factors including brain injury directly caused by radiation, cerebral tissue ischemia and necrosis caused by cerebrovascular injury, oxidative stress and brain injury mediated by inflammation, etc. which play a crucial role in the cognitive dysfunction caused by radiotherapy. These have all been widely recognized, and recently evidences have also shown that potential therapeutic interventions can effectively prevent cognitive impairment.
Highlights
According to statistics, the annual incidence about carcinoma of brain and neck in the world has been estimated at 1,240,000 [1]
We found a few of factors including brain injury directly caused by radiation, cerebral tissue ischemia and necrosis caused by cerebrovascular injury, oxidative stress and brain injury mediated by inflammation, etc. which play a crucial role in the cognitive dysfunction caused by radiotherapy
The mechanism of its occurrence is still unclear, studies have shown that cognitive impairment caused by radiotherapy is not impossible to prevent and treat, and potential therapeutic interventions can effectively prevent the occurrence of cognitive impairment [10], better improving the quality of life of cancer patients
Summary
The annual incidence about carcinoma of brain and neck in the world has been estimated at 1,240,000 [1]. With the improvement of medical technology, the overall survival time of cancer patients is longer; the irradiation-induced cognitive impairment, including mild cognitive impairment to dementia, occurs in 50% - 90% of patients with brain tumors who survive >6 months following irradiation [6] [7]. Because of radiation-induced cognitive impairment which significantly may affect their quality of life (QOL), it is recognized as one of the most important outcome measurements, second only to survival in clinical trials [8], which becomes a most concerned problem in these patient and the practitioner [9]. The mechanism of its occurrence is still unclear, studies have shown that cognitive impairment caused by radiotherapy is not impossible to prevent and treat, and potential therapeutic interventions can effectively prevent the occurrence of cognitive impairment [10], better improving the quality of life of cancer patients. The mechanism of radiation-related cognitive impairment is less known, the recently evidences on this topic are reviewed as follows
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