ArticleRadiation oncology journal2024
Role of memantine to mitigate radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction in brain metastasis patient receiving whole brain radiotherapy: a systematic review.
Article in Radiation oncology journal, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Chemobrain as a Neuroimmune Syndrome: Mechanisms, Modifiers, and Emerging Multi-Target Therapeutic Strategies.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Factors associated with cognitive impairment in long-term IDH-mutant glioma survivors.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2025Article
- Review
- Mechanisms of cancer-induced neurophysiological dysfunction and therapeutic strategies.Discover oncology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeIdentifying comprehensively the evidence of neuroprotective effects of memantine for preserving cognitive function in brain metastasis patients receiving whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT).
methodsWe searched randomized clinical trials (RCTs) analyzing the effects of memantine to preserve cognitive function in patients with brain metastasis treated with WBRT, performed in some databases, including PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library. The protocol was registered at PROSPERO (CRD42023476632). We reported the selection process according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guideline. The studies were appraised by using the revised Cochrane Risk of Bias tool for randomized trials (RoB 2.0).
resultsWe included three RCTs that met the eligibility criteria. No high risk of bias was found. Two articles compared WBRT + memantine to WBRT + placebo, and the other one compared hippocampal avoidance (HA)-WBRT + memantine to WBRT + memantine. There was no significant difference in characteristics among groups of treatment arms. The differences in cognitive function deterioration between treatment arms began to appear four months after initiated the treatment. The risk of cognitive failure was lower in patients receiving memantine compared to placebo. Moreover, combining HA-WBRT + memantine lowered the cognitive failure compared to standard WBRT + memantine. No article stated significant difference in quality of life (QoL) and survival outcomes in patients receiving memantine.
conclusionAlthough the evidence was still limited, memantine was reported to have the potential to mitigate radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction in patients with brain metastasis receiving WBRT. However, there was no evidence revealing the benefit of memantine for enhancing QoL and prolonging survival.
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