Experiences with Four Patients with Advanced or Recurrent Solid Cancers who Underwent Outpatient Neurological Examinations

Abstract

Introduction: We present our experiences with four patients with advanced or recurrent solid cancers, who underwent neurological evaluations through an outpatient rehabilitation system.
Methods: Neurological evaluations were performed, and the emergence of new symptoms during rehabilitation interventions for metastatic brain tumors, which had been revealed on head magnetic resonance imaging, were examined.
Results: In two patients with new symptoms, the causes were a metastatic brain tumor and peripheral neuropathy, respectively. One patient, with a metastatic brain tumor, experienced no new symptoms.
Conclusion: Although the presence or absence of neurological symptoms does not necessarily correspond to the presence or absence of a metastatic brain tumor, evaluations of neurological findings are useful for rehabilitation professionals when treating patients with advanced or recurrent solid tumors receiving outpatient chemotherapy. In the future, considering the frequency of neurological evaluations and content of the assessment battery used are necessary.