Abstract：
Radiation therapy is a common treatment modality for patients with malignant tumors of the head and neck, chest and axilla. However, radiotherapy inevitably causes damage to normal tissues at the irradiated site, among which damage to the brachial plexus nerve(BP) is a serious adverse effect in patients receiving radiation therapy in the scapular or axillary regions, with clinical manifestations including abnormal sensation, neuropathic pain, and dyskinesia, etc. These adverse effects seriously reduce the living quality of patients and pose obstacles to their prognosis. Therefore, it is important to elucidate the mechanism of radiation induced brachial plexus injury (RIBP) which remains unclear. Current studies have shown that the pathways of radiation-induced BP injury can be divided into two categories: direct injury and indirect injury, and the indirect injury is closely related to the inflammatory response, microvascular damage, cytokine production and other factors causing radiation-induced fibrosis. In this review, we summarize the underlying mechanisms of RIBP occurrence and possible effective methods to prevent and treat RIBP.
摘要：
放射治疗是头颈部恶性肿瘤患者常见的治疗方式,胸部和腋窝.然而,放射治疗不可避免地会对照射部位的正常组织造成损害，其中臂丛神经（BP）的损伤是在肩胛骨或腋窝区域接受放射治疗的患者的严重不良反应，临床表现包括异常感觉，神经性疼痛,和运动障碍,等。这些不良反应严重降低了患者的生活质量，并对其预后构成障碍。因此,阐明放射性臂丛神经损伤（RIBP）的机制非常重要，但目前尚不清楚。目前的研究表明,放射性BP损伤的途径可分为直接损伤和间接损伤两大类,间接损伤与炎症反应密切相关，微血管损伤,细胞因子的产生和其他因素导致辐射诱导的纤维化。在这次审查中,我们总结了RIBP发生的潜在机制以及预防和治疗RIBP的可能有效方法。
