CASE REPORT article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Head and Neck Cancer
Wernicke's Encephalopathy in a Patient with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma: Case Report and Literature Review
Provisionally accepted
Ioannis Kotsantis1
Anna Boulouta1*
Panagiota Economopoulou1
Anastasios Pantazopoulos1Sotirios Karamagkiolas2
Tasos Kyriazoglou1Maria Kyrkasiadou1Niki Gavrielatou1
Maria Anastasiou1
Amanda Psyrri1- 1Second Department of Internal Medicine, Oncology Unit, Attikon University Hospital, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Athens, Greece
- 2Second Otolaryngology Department, Attikon University Hospital, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Athens, Greece
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Wernicke's encephalopathy is an acute neurologic disorder caused by thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency, which is most commonly associated with alcoholism. Rare cases of Wernicke's encephalopathy have been described in cancer patients, mostly with gastrointestinal and hematologic malignancies. Head and neck cancer patients frequently have reduced oral intake as a direct result of their tumor or from chemoradiation treatments. We report a case of Wernicke's encephalopathy in a 44-year-old woman with adenoid cystic carcinoma following chemoradiotherapy. Through a literature review we identified additional cases of Wernicke's encephalopathy in head and neck cancer patients, highlighting the importance of recognizing nutritional deficiencies and associated complications. The findings emphasize the need for heightened awareness regarding the risk of thiamine deficiency in cancer patients, particularly those experiencing poor nutritional intake due to treatment-related side effects. Prompt diagnosis and intervention are critical to prevent serious morbidity and mortality associated with this condition.
Keywords: Wernicke's encephalopathy, head & neck cancer, Adenoid cystic carcinoma, Nutritional complications, Thiamine Deficiency, neurological manifestation, HNSCC
Received: 12 Oct 2025; Accepted: 17 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kotsantis, Boulouta, Economopoulou, Pantazopoulos, Karamagkiolas, Kyriazoglou, Kyrkasiadou, Gavrielatou, Anastasiou and Psyrri. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Anna Boulouta, annitaboulouta@gmail.com
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