The relationship between the development of cognitive disorders and polyneuropathy on the background of chemotherapy

Introduction . Chemotherapy is one of the key methods of treatment in oncology. Cytostatics do not have selective activity to tumor cells and have a toxic effect on healthy tissues. A negative side effect of cytostatics is damage to the nervous tissue. The most common are post–chemotherapeutic polyneuropathy and cognitive impairment. Aim . To analyze the relationship between the development of cognitive disorders in cancer patients and the occurrence of polyneuropathy. Material and methods . The work was carried out in the chemotherapy department and is based on the results of examination of 60 patients with malignant neoplasm of the breast. The study included women aged 32 to 58 years, in whose anamnesis there were no other diseases and conditions capable of provoking disorders of the peripheral and central nervous system. The patients were divided into 2 groups: those who had undergone less than 10 courses of chemotherapy and more than 10 courses of chemotherapy. The Neuropathy Symptom Score (NSS) scale was used to assess the severity of polyneuropathy symptoms. The severity of cognitive disorders was assessed using the Mini- Mental State Examination (MMSE) scale. Results . Statistically significant differences were found between the two groups on the NSS scale (p < 0.05). According to the MMSE scale, there were no statistically significant differences between the first and second groups. A positive correlation was found between the onset of polyneuropathy and cognitive disorders (p = 0.8975). Conclusions . Chemotherapeutic drugs have a systemic effect on nervous tissue and the earlier they damage peripheral nervous tissue, that is, the earlier polyneuropathy occurs, the sooner damage to the central nervous system (encephalopathy) manifests itself.