The vicious interplay between disrupted sleep and malignant brain tumors: a narrative review

Abstract

Malignant brain tumors are among the most aggressive human neoplasms. One of the most common and severe symptoms that patients with these malignancies experience is sleep disruption. Disrupted sleep is known to have significant systemic pro-tumor effects, both in patients with other types of cancer and those with malignant brain lesions. We therefore provide a review of the current knowledge on disrupted sleep in malignant diseases, with an emphasis on malignant brain tumors. More specifically, we review the known ways in which disrupted sleep enables further malignant progression. In the second part of the article, we also provide a theoretical framework of the reverse process. Namely, we argue that due to the several possible pathophysiological mechanisms, patients with malignant brain tumors are especially susceptible to their sleep being disrupted and compromised. Thus, we further argue that addressing the issue of disrupted sleep in patients with malignant brain tumors can, not just improve their quality of life, but also have at least some potential of actively suppressing the devastating disease, especially when other treatment modalities have been exhausted. Future research is therefore desperately needed.

Heart failure and cancer: From active exposure to passive adaption

“…According to the data from the health and retirement study in the United States, insomnia symptoms, both cumulatively and individually, are associated with incident HF ( 23 ). Sleep loss is also related to various kinds of cancer, such as neck and head cancer ( 24 ), prostate cancer ( 25 ), and malignant brain tumor ( 26 ). Michael et al reported that sleep loss might activate spontaneous cellular innate immunity ( 27 ).…”