The exposure to a life-threatening disease such as cancer may constitute a traumatic experience that
in some cases may lead to the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In recent years,
several studies investigated this syndrome in patients with cancer, but few focused on the underlying
neurobiology. The aim of this work was to review the current literature of neurobiology of PTSD in oncological
diseases, focusing on a comparison with the results of neurobiological studies on PTSD in nononcological
patients and on treatments resulted effective for such disorder. Brain structures having a role
in the appearance of PTSD in psycho-oncology, and in particular, in intrusive symptoms, seem to be the
same involved in non-oncologic PTSD. These findings may have important implications also at clinical
level, suggesting that psychotherapies found to be effective to treat PTSD in different populations may
be offered also to patients with cancer-induced posttraumatic symptoms. Further studies are needed to
deepen our knowledge about cancer-related PTSD neurobiology and its treatment, aiming at transferring
the results into clinical practice.
