Chemobrain and Anxiety in a Patient with Hodgkin's Lymphoma: Case Report and Literature Discussion

Abstract

Impaired cognitive function is a common complaint among oncologic patients. Chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (CICI), also called “chemobrain” or “chemofog” is currently recognized as a relatively common adverse effect of chemotherapeutic agents and is defined as the impairment of patients’ memory, learning, concentration, reasoning, executive function, attention, and visuospatial skills during and after discontinuation of chemotherapy. In particular, it is apparent that a subset of chemotherapy-treated haematological malignancy survivors experience cognitive impairment. On the other hand, the emotional distress associated with the disclosure of cancer diagnosis and/or the administration of chemotherapy represents a strong reason for psychosomatic manifestations in patients with cancer. The authors report a case of a patient with Hodgkin's lymphoma, cognitive impairment and symptoms of anxiety and they propose to discuss the controversies around the factors implicated on cognitive impairment in oncological patients.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.