Hong Kong Med J 2024;30(Suppl 7):S33-6
Neurocognitive impairment after intensity-modulated radiotherapy in patients with nasopharyngeal cancer: association with radiation dose and retinal vascular characteristics (abridged secondary publication)
JCH Chow1, BCY Zee2, AYL Lau3, KH Au1, AMC Lau4
1 Department of Clinical Oncology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China
2 Division of Biostatistics, Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
3 Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
4 Department of Clinical Psychology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China
 
 
  1. Neurocognitive impairment is prevalent among nasopharyngeal carcinoma survivors who underwent definitive intensity-modulated radiotherapy.
  2. Significant impairments were observed in multiple neurocognitive domains including verbal memory, executive function, processing speed, motor dexterity, and language ability.
  3. Radiation doses to the whole brain, hippocampus, and temporal lobe were associated with neurocognitive impairment.
  4. Retinal image analysis may be useful to detect neurocognitive impairment.