Neurological Complications of Conventional and Novel Anticancer Treatments

Abstract

Various neurological complications, affecting both the central and peripheral nervous system, can frequently be experienced by cancer survivors after exposure to conventional chemotherapy, but also to modern immunotherapy. In this review, we provide an overview of the most well-known adverse events related to chemotherapy, with a focus on chemotherapy induced peripheral neurotoxicity, but we also address some emerging novel clinical entities related to cancer treatment, including chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment and immune-mediated adverse events. Unfortunately, efficacious curative or preventive treatment for all these neurological complications is still lacking. We provide a description of the possible mechanisms involved to drive future drug discovery in this field, both for symptomatic treatment and neuroprotection.

Keywords

• chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotoxicity
• chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy
• chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment
• chemofog
• chemobrain
• immune-checkpoint inhibitors neurotoxicity