Abstract Advances in cancer therapies have significantly improved survival rates, but many survivors face persistent cognitive impairments collectively termed chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment (CRCI). Symptoms such as memory deficits, reduced attention, impaired executive function, and slowed information processing can profoundly affect quality of life, often persisting for years or even decades. The cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying CRCI remain poorly understood, but accumulating evidence suggests that cancer therapy accelerates aging-like processes in the brain. This review positions CRCI as a model of induced aging and neurodegeneration, emphasizing shared central nervous system (CNS) pathologies with aging such as neuroinflammation, blood-brain barrier disruptions, reduced neurogenesis, hypomyelination, and cellular senescence, providing a novel framework for investigating CRCI. This review highlights the parallels between CRCI and aging, proposing that insights from aging research can inform the development of targeted interventions to mitigate CNS-related CRCI symptoms. Addressing these shared mechanisms may lead to innovative therapies that improve cognitive outcomes and enhance the quality of life for cancer survivors.
Núñez et al. (Fri,) studied this question.