As the use of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) increases life
expectancy in certain types of cancer, there is evidence that this
technique may contribute to neurocognitive deficits. The aim of this
research is to investigate functional connectivity in patients before
and after being administered brain radiotherapy as well as their
neurocognitive functionality, depending on the course of disease and the
phase of treatment and time of clinical examination. In the current
study we attempt to identify potential alterations in brain function
during resting state and task-related functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI) in small cell lung cancer patients (SCLC) patients before
PCI compared to healthy subjects. The brain regions that were activated
for both groups during a sequential tapping task are consistent with
previous studies. However, the patient group showed a lower level of
activation in the primary somatosensory cortex bilaterally. During rest,
the Default Mode Network (DMN) was identified in both groups. The
results presented are subject to further investigation with larger
patient and control group
