Prophylactic cranial irradiation: 5 years on
- 1Deparment of Neurology, Mercy University Hospital, Cork, Ireland
- 2Department of Palliative Medicine, Marymount University Hospice, Cork, Ireland
- 3Department of Radiotherapy, Cork University Hospital, Cork, Ireland
- 4Department of Medical Oncology, Mercy University Hospital, Cork, Ireland
- Correspondence to Dr Stephen A Ryan, Department of Neurology, Mercy University Hospital, Cork, Ireland; stephenryan0{at}gmail.com
Abstract
With advances in cancer management, patients are living with the long-term sequelae of both cancer and its treatment. This era of cancer survivorship poses unique challenges to the interdisciplinary cancer team in terms of management and prevention of treatment-related toxicities. This paper describes the case of a 55-year-old patient with neurocognitive disturbance as a result of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI). Five years after a diagnosis of small cell lung cancer, she is now an inpatient at a specialist palliative care unit. The current evidence for PCI and for potentially modifiable risk factors for neurocognitive disturbance as a consequence of PCI is explored.
- Survivorship
- Small Cell Lung < Cancer
- Neurocognitive impairment
- Prophylactic Cranial Irradiation
- Toxic Leucencephalopathy
- Received 23 August 2012.
- Revision received 29 November 2012.
- Accepted 16 December 2012.
- Published Online First 18 January 2013
- Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions
