| Abstract: |
Patients with cancer of the central nervous system often experience cognitive dysfunction as a result of the tumor and its treatment, including radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Difficulties in aspects of attention and executive functions, and learning and retrieval of new information, are the most prevalent in survivors, and they often interfere with survivors' ability to resume work and social activities. As effective treatment interventions have increased survival, there has been growing recognition of the relevance of including cognitive evaluations as outcome variables in neuro-oncology research. Advancements in the field include the development of guidelines for the use of standardized neuropsychological instruments in the context of clinical trials and the inclusion of sensitive cognitive tests in several multicenter studies. Recent studies have also begun to investigate the underlying mechanisms and genetic risk factors that may contribute to treatment neurotoxicity. This chapter reviews the literature on cognitive dysfunction in patients with brain tumors, mechanisms of neurotoxicity, and currently used methods of treatment and management (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) |
