A patient with cancer may develop mild to severe cognitive impairment. Identifying and treating reversible causes can result in significant improvements to the patient's quality of life..
Tumor-related:
(1) CNS involvement (primary or metastatic)
(2) paraneoplastic
(3) release of proinflammatory cytokines
Therapy-related:
(1) chemotherapy
(2) radiation therapy to the head
(3) corticosteroids
(4) immunotherapy with cytokines (interferon, etc.)
(5) pain medications
(6) sedatives
(7) gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists
(8) other
Concurrent disease-related:
(1) depression
(2) cerebrovascular disease
(3) disorientation secondary to sensory impairment (decrease in vision, hearing and other senses)
(4) fatigue
(5) anemia
(6) delirium
(7) thyroid dysfunction
(8) pain
(9) pre-existing dementia
(10) other neurological disorders
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