Donepezil review finds no statistically clear cognitive improvement in cancer patients
Across included studies, donepezil did not show statistically significant improvements on cognitive tests or fatigue. Missing effect estimates limit how precisely the findings can be interpreted.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
In studies involving cancer patients with cancer-related thinking difficulties, donepezil did not produce statistically significant improvements on the assessed cognitive tests. Fatigue also showed no statistically clear improvement. The review therefore did not establish benefit for these measured outcomes, but missing effect estimates and uncertainty ranges prevent a precise account of what benefit remains possible.
Without effect estimates or confidence intervals, the abstract cannot show the range of possible benefit. It also does not describe cancer types, treatment histories or the duration of donepezil use.
Which outcomes were assessed
The review assessed results from the Hopkins verbal learning test, a trail-making test and a word-association test. These are separate measured outcomes; the abstract reports no statistically significant improvement on any of them.
What the safety summary says
Insomnia and headache were reported more often in adults than children. The review did not report a higher overall adverse-event risk with donepezil than placebo, but it supplies no numerical safety estimates or follow-up lengths.
The original publication
Donepezil for cancer-related cognitive impairment: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Fornalik M, Moska S, Gimła M et al.
Clin Exp Med · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40495003
- Record checked
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