HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - from the BBC: scary news that chemo kills more brain cells than cancer cells!

Lani · 12-07-2006, 05:25 PM

1: J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006 Dec 6;98(23):1742-5. Links
Change in cognitive function after chemotherapy: a prospective longitudinal study in breast cancer patients.

Schagen SB,
Muller MJ,
Boogerd W,
Mellenbergh GJ,
van Dam FS.
Department of Psychosocial Research and Epidemiology, Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Plesmanlaan121, 1066 CX Amsterdam, The Netherlands. s.schagen@nki.nl.
Some breast cancer survivors experience cognitive decline following chemotherapy. We prospectively examined changes in cognitive performance among high-risk breast cancer patients who had received high-dose chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, thiotepa, and carboplatin (CTC group; n = 28) or standard-dose chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FEC group; n = 39); stage-I breast cancer patients who had received no systemic chemotherapy (no-CT group; n = 57); and healthy control subjects (n = 60). All patients underwent neuropsychologic testing before and 6 months after treatment (12-month interval); control subjects underwent repeated testing over a 6-month interval. No differences in cognitive functioning between the four groups were observed at the first assessment. More of the CTC group than the control subjects experienced a deterioration in cognitive performance over time (25% versus 6.7%; odds ratio [OR] = 5.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.3 to 21.2, P = .02). No such difference was observed for the FEC or the no-CT groups (FEC versus control: OR = 2.2, 95% CI = 0.5 to 9.1, P = .27; no-CT versus Control: OR = 2.2, 95% CI = 0.6 to 8.0; P = .21). Some cytotoxic treatment for breast cancer affects cognition in a subset of women.
PMID: 17148777 [PubMed - in process]

12-07-2006, 05:25 PM	#15
Lani Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 4,778	more specific article on cognitive dysfxn due to chemo given for breast cancer 1: J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006 Dec 6;98(23):1742-5. Links Change in cognitive function after chemotherapy: a prospective longitudinal study in breast cancer patients. Schagen SB, Muller MJ, Boogerd W, Mellenbergh GJ, van Dam FS. Department of Psychosocial Research and Epidemiology, Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Plesmanlaan121, 1066 CX Amsterdam, The Netherlands. s.schagen@nki.nl. Some breast cancer survivors experience cognitive decline following chemotherapy. We prospectively examined changes in cognitive performance among high-risk breast cancer patients who had received high-dose chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, thiotepa, and carboplatin (CTC group; n = 28) or standard-dose chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FEC group; n = 39); stage-I breast cancer patients who had received no systemic chemotherapy (no-CT group; n = 57); and healthy control subjects (n = 60). All patients underwent neuropsychologic testing before and 6 months after treatment (12-month interval); control subjects underwent repeated testing over a 6-month interval. No differences in cognitive functioning between the four groups were observed at the first assessment. More of the CTC group than the control subjects experienced a deterioration in cognitive performance over time (25% versus 6.7%; odds ratio [OR] = 5.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.3 to 21.2, P = .02). No such difference was observed for the FEC or the no-CT groups (FEC versus control: OR = 2.2, 95% CI = 0.5 to 9.1, P = .27; no-CT versus Control: OR = 2.2, 95% CI = 0.6 to 8.0; P = .21). Some cytotoxic treatment for breast cancer affects cognition in a subset of women. PMID: 17148777 [PubMed - in process]