{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,25]],"date-time":"2026-05-25T15:03:47Z","timestamp":1779721427908,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,25]],"date-time":"2026-05-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779667200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Romania\u2019s National Recovery and Resilience Plan","award":["14"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["14"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a common, disabling toxicity with no validated biomarkers. MRI-based functional neuroimaging could offer insight into central pain processing and may reveal reproducible brain signatures of CIPN. Methods: Following PRISMA 2020 (PROSPERO: CRD420251132102), we systematically reviewed whole-brain MRI studies in adult cancer patients with CIPN. Eligible MRI techniques included task-based fMRI, resting-state fMRI, perfusion MRI, and structural MRI. Data were synthesized through voxelwise activation likelihood estimation (ALE), systems-level region-of-interest (ROI) mapping, and proportion meta-analysis of regional involvement. Results: Of 2488 screened records, five observational studies were included. The voxelwise ALE analysis did not identify clusters surviving correction, but dispersed foci appeared within the default mode network (DMN), prefrontal executive cortex, and primary sensorimotor regions, suggesting the engagement of these pain-processing networks. ROI synthesis confirmed consistent alterations in the DMN and executive prefrontal and sensorimotor cortices in CIPN patients compared with controls, while the brainstem\/periaqueductal gray and cerebellum were rarely implicated. Proportion meta-analysis further quantified these differences: CIPN patients showed altered involvement in 30% (95% CI 0.16\u20130.48) of contrasts, with the highest frequencies in the DMN (50%), sensorimotor (33%), and executive prefrontal regions (33%). By contrast, control-higher contrasts were less frequent (10%, 95% CI 0.03\u20130.27), highlighting CIPN-related increases particularly in self-referential and somatosensory networks. Conclusions: Across analytic approaches, CIPN is characterized by reproducible alterations in the DMN and executive prefrontal and sensorimotor networks. These central pain signatures represent promising MRI-based biomarkers for identifying and monitoring CIPN in oncology.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics16111619","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,25]],"date-time":"2026-05-25T14:10:22Z","timestamp":1779718222000},"page":"1619","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["MRI-Based Brain Signatures of Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2631-7458","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ioana","family":"Creang\u0103-Murariu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Advanced Research and Development Center for Experimental Medicine \u201cProf. Ostin C. Mungiu\u201d (CEMEX), Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iasi, Romania"},{"name":"Oncology-Radiotherapy Department, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iasi, Romania"},{"name":"Centre for Translational Medicine, Semmelweis University, 1085 Budapest, Hungary"},{"name":"Department of Medical Oncology, Regional Institute of Oncology, 700483 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eliza-Maria","family":"Armeanu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Oncology-Radiotherapy Department, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iasi, Romania"},{"name":"2nd Internal Medicine Department, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2503-5395","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vladimir","family":"Poroch","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"2nd Internal Medicine Department, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iasi, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Palliative Care, Regional Institute of Oncology, 700483 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9868-1999","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bogdan-Ionel","family":"Tamba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Advanced Research and Development Center for Experimental Medicine \u201cProf. Ostin C. Mungiu\u201d (CEMEX), Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2696-9568","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Teodora","family":"Alexa-Stratulat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Advanced Research and Development Center for Experimental Medicine \u201cProf. Ostin C. Mungiu\u201d (CEMEX), Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iasi, Romania"},{"name":"Oncology-Radiotherapy Department, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iasi, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Medical Oncology, Regional Institute of Oncology, 700483 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bogdan","family":"Gafton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Oncology-Radiotherapy Department, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iasi, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Medical Oncology, Regional Institute of Oncology, 700483 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2193-3059","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mihai-Vasile","family":"Marinca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Oncology-Radiotherapy Department, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iasi, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Medical Oncology, Regional Institute of Oncology, 700483 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vlad-Adrian","family":"Afrasanie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Oncology-Radiotherapy Department, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iasi, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Medical Oncology, Regional Institute of Oncology, 700483 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Diana Maria","family":"Puscasu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Oncology-Radiotherapy Department, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iasi, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Medical Genetics, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Matei Ioan","family":"Rusu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Advanced Research and Development Center for Experimental Medicine \u201cProf. Ostin C. Mungiu\u201d (CEMEX), Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Iulian","family":"Prutianu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Preventive Medicine and Interdisciplinarity\u2013Public Health and Management, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Iasi, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Medical Oncology, Neolife Medical Center, 700503 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"695","DOI":"10.2174\/1573405616666210108122048","article-title":"A review on deep learning architecture and methods for MRI brain tumour segmentation","volume":"17","author":"Angulakshmi","year":"2021","journal-title":"Curr. Med. 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