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Updated: Jul 15, 2026
Quantifying Cognitive Decrements Caused by Cranial Radiotherapy
Published on: October 18, 2011
Unexpected dementia following prophylactic cranial irradiation for small cell lung cancer: case report
David J D'Ambrosio1, Roger B Cohen, Jon Glass
1Department of Radiation Oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, 333 Cottman Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111, USA. david.dambrosio@fccc.edu
Object:
Prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) is commonly offered to patients with limited stage primary small cell lung cancer following a complete response.
Methods:
We present the unique case of a 76-year-old woman treated with PCI with a dose of 30 Gy in 15 fractions, at 200 cGy per fraction who developed progressive dementia.
Conclusions:
This is the first reported case of dementia from PCI at this low dose per fraction. Patients need to be counseled regarding the risks and benefits of treatment, including dementia with treatment and risk of sequelae from CNS metastasis without treatment. The authors review the data supporting PCI and the incidence of radiation associated dementia.
