The effect of chemotherapy on cognitive functions in children with leukemia

Leukemia is one of the most common childhood diseases with a malignant course. Fortunately, today there is a high probability of its successful cure. The nature of the disease entails a high risk of initial spread, or later relapse of the disease into the central nervous system. Standard treatment including intrathecal application of cytostatics reduces this risk fundamentally; nevertheless it can damage some cognitive functions. There is extensive research dealing with this issue. Through a systematic literature research, we selected 16 articles that examined cognitive functions through neuropsychological tests. Result analysis indicates a statistically significant decrease in performance in tests of attention, processing speed, working memory and executive functions. Conversely, the overall intelligence quotient, learning ability and long-term memory seem to be only slightly affected by the treatment.