Central nervous system sideeffects of oncological treatments

Neurotoxicity due to chemotherapy and conventionally fractionated irradiation has been long recognized, but the exact pathomechanism of central nervous system damage caused by new therapeutic modalities, biological and immunotherapies, innovative local therapies, and new radiation techniques is currently not fully elucidated. The resulting neurological disorders can be spontaneously reversible or even fatal. The increasing basic research knowledge and clinical data provide an opportunity for better understanding of these lesions. Identification of risk factors, high-risk patients and symptoms, course monitoring, examinations, and differential diagnosis play important role in clinical decision. Despite the expansion of preventive measures and treatment methods, therapeutic options are limited, and often only discontinuation of antitumour therapy or dose reduction can help to prevent further neurological damage. The aim of this paper was to explore the central nervous system disorders resulting from various anticancer therapies, and to review their etiology, prognosis, and treatment options.