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Download fileUsing lithium as a neuroprotective agent in patients with cancer
journal contribution
posted on 2012-11-02, 00:00 authored by Mustafa KhasrawMustafa Khasraw, David Ashley, G Wheeler, Michael BerkMichael BerkNeurocognitive impairment is being increasingly recognized as an important issue in patients with cancer who develop cognitive difficulties either as part of direct or indirect involvement of the nervous system or as a consequence of either chemotherapy-related or radiotherapy-related complications. Brain radiotherapy in particular can lead to significant cognitive defects. Neurocognitive decline adversely affects quality of life, meaningful employment, and even simple daily activities. Neuroprotection may be a viable and realistic goal in preventing neurocognitive sequelae in these patients, especially in the setting of cranial irradiation. Lithium is an agent that has been in use for psychiatric disorders for decades, but recently there has been emerging evidence that it can have a neuroprotective effect.
This review discusses neurocognitive impairment in patients with cancer and the potential for investigating the use of lithium as a neuroprotectant in such patients.
This review discusses neurocognitive impairment in patients with cancer and the potential for investigating the use of lithium as a neuroprotectant in such patients.
History
Journal
BMC MedicineVolume
10Issue
131Pagination
1 - 7Publisher
BioMed CentralLocation
London, EnglandPublisher DOI
ISSN
1741-7015Language
engNotes
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Publication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2012, Khasraw et al.Usage metrics
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Categories
Keywords
acute lymphoblastic leukemiaAlzheimer diseasebipolar disorderbrain diseasebrain metastasisbrain radiationbrain tumorcancer chemotherapycancer patientcancer radiotherapyScience & TechnologyLife Sciences & BiomedicineMedicine, General & InternalGeneral & Internal MedicineGLUTAMATE-RECEPTOR SUPERSENSITIVITYHIPPOCAMPAL NEUROGENESISBREAST-CANCERRADIATION-THERAPYSTEM-CELLCOGNITIVE FUNCTIONSYNTHASE KINASE-3BRAINIRRADIATIONSURVIVORS