Definition
Neuroprotection is the active suppression of damaging neurotoxic conditions in the nervous system in an aim to inhibit apoptosis, neuronal dysfunction, and neurodegeneration of nerve cells. This may be either achieved by endogenous neuroprotectants or by exogenously added pharmacological agents/neuroprotective therapies. Neuroprotective therapies are currently clinically developed both for acute (e.g., stroke) and chronic forms of CNS damage (e.g., Alzheimer disease). In the context of cancer, neuroprotective strategies aim at limiting the often severe neurotoxic side effects of chemotherapy/radiotherapy without affecting the antitumor efficacy of antineoplastic therapies. In addition to the obvious benefits in the quality of life, this may also allow to delay premature termination of cancer treatment and thereby improve the clinical outcome.
Characteristics
Several chemotherapeutic agents are known to have severe neurotoxic activity, and peripheral neuropathy is one of the...
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Buckingham SC, Campbell SL, Haas BR, Montana V, Robel S, Ogunrinu T, Sontheimer H (2011) Glutamate release by primary brain tumors induces epileptic activity. Nat Med 17:1269–1274
Schiff D, Wen PY, van den Bent MJ (2009) Neurological adverse effects caused by cytotoxic and targeted therapies. Nat Rev 6:596–603
Walker M, Ni O (2007) Neuroprotection during chemotherapy: a systematic review. Am J Clin Oncol 30:82–92
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this entry
Cite this entry
Kögel, D. (2017). Neuroprotection. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-46875-3_7153
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-46875-3_7153
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-46874-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-46875-3
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences