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Nerve Excitability Assessment in Chemotherapy-induced Neurotoxicity
Published on: April 26, 2012
MRI-Based Brain Signatures of Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and
Ioana Creangă-Murariu1,2,3,4, Eliza-Maria Armeanu2,5, Vladimir Poroch5,6
1Advanced Research and Development Center for Experimental Medicine "Prof. Ostin C. Mungiu" (CEMEX), Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iasi, Romania.
Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland)
|June 12, 2026
Summary
Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) shows distinct brain changes in the default mode network and executive/sensorimotor regions. These findings suggest potential MRI biomarkers for identifying and monitoring CIPN in cancer patients.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Oncology
- Radiology
Background:
- Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a common and debilitating side effect of cancer treatment.
- Currently, there are no validated biomarkers to accurately diagnose or monitor CIPN.
- Functional neuroimaging using MRI may provide insights into central pain processing and identify brain signatures of CIPN.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and synthesize findings from whole-brain MRI studies in adult cancer patients diagnosed with CIPN.
- To identify reproducible brain alterations associated with CIPN using meta-analysis techniques.
- To explore the potential of MRI-based functional neuroimaging as a biomarker for CIPN.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature review following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, including studies using task-based fMRI, resting-state fMRI, perfusion MRI, and structural MRI.
- Voxelwise activation likelihood estimation (ALE) and systems-level region-of-interest (ROI) mapping for synthesizing functional MRI data.
- Proportion meta-analysis to quantify the frequency of regional involvement in CIPN.
Main Results:
- Five observational studies were included, analyzing data from adult cancer patients with CIPN.
- While voxelwise ALE did not yield significant clusters, dispersed foci were observed in the default mode network (DMN), executive prefrontal cortex, and sensorimotor regions.
- ROI synthesis and proportion meta-analysis confirmed consistent alterations in the DMN, executive prefrontal, and sensorimotor cortices in CIPN patients, with altered involvement in 30% of contrasts.
Conclusions:
- Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy is associated with reproducible alterations in the DMN, executive prefrontal, and sensorimotor networks.
- These identified central pain signatures show promise as MRI-based biomarkers for the detection and monitoring of CIPN in cancer patients.
- Further research into these MRI signatures could lead to improved management strategies for CIPN.
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