Radiation therapy vital to treating brain tumors, but it exacts a toll
In a new study, published in the June issue of Brain Connectivity , researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that irradiation can cause broader adverse effects, altering the structural network properties in impacted brains and perhaps contributing to delayed cognitive impairments observed in many patients following brain RT. "RT is a mainstay of brain tumor treatment," said Naeim Bahrami, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Multimodal Imaging and Genetics at UC San Diego School of Medicine and first author of the study. "Unfortunately, a side effect can be incidental irradiation of normal brain tissue and radiation-induced injury, which have been linked to impairment of brain function. As patient outcomes improve, a major concern is managing long-term complications, including cognitive decline and disability." Previous research has shown that RT can affect discrete brain regions by causing cortical atrophy. In ...