• Hiromichi Matsuoka, Kazuhiro Yoshiuchi, Atsuko Koyama, Masatomo Otsuka, and Kazuhiko Nakagawa.
• Department of Medical Oncology,Division of Psychosomatic Medicine,Kinki University Faculty of Medicine,Osaka,Japan.
• Palliat Support Care. 2015 Aug 1; 13 (4): 859-64.

ObjectiveDelirium is a frequently encountered psychiatric disease in terminal cancer patients. However, the mechanism of delirium is unclear. The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between administration of chemotherapy drugs that penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the development of delirium in cancer patients.MethodWe retrospectively analyzed 166 cancer patients (97 males, 69 females) continuously who died between September of 2007 and January of 2010 using a review of medical charts. Multiple logistic regression analysis was employed to investigate the effects of antineoplastic drugs penetrating the BBB on development of delirium in cancer patients with control for other risk factors.ResultsIn multivariate analysis, antineoplastic drugs that penetrated the BBB were significantly associated with development of delirium (OR = 18.92, CI 95 = 1.08-333.04, p < 0.001).Significance Of ResultsThe use of chemotherapy drugs that penetrate the BBB may be a risk factor for delirium. This information may allow palliative care doctors and medical oncologists to predict which patients are at increased risk for delirium.

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