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Published on: October 18, 2011

Cognitive side effects of cancer therapy demonstrate a functional role for adult neurogenesis

Michelle Monje1, Jörg Dietrich

  • 1Department of Neurology, Division of Child Neurology, Stanford University Medical Center, 750 Welch Road, Suite 317, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA. mmonje@stanford.edu

Behavioural Brain Research
|May 31, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Cancer treatments can harm brain stem cells, leading to cognitive problems like memory loss and attention deficits in survivors. This damage affects learning and information processing speed.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Oncology
  • Cancer Survivorship

Background:

  • Cancer therapies often cause neurocognitive deficits affecting learning, memory, attention, and processing speed.
  • Damage to neural progenitor cells is a key factor in these deficits.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the role of damage to neural progenitor cells in cancer-related neurocognitive impairment.
  • To understand the impact of radiation and chemotherapy on brain progenitor populations.

Main Methods:

  • Investigated the effects of cancer treatments on neural progenitor cell populations.
  • Focused on progenitor cells in the hippocampus and subcortical white matter.

Main Results:

  • Radiation and chemotherapy damage neural progenitor cells.
  • This damage impacts adult hippocampal neurogenesis and white matter integrity.

Conclusions:

  • Damage to neural progenitor cells is a significant cause of neurocognitive deficits in cancer survivors.
  • Therapeutic strategies targeting these progenitor cells may mitigate cognitive impairment.

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