Sorry if this is old news

[Tom]

http://www.oncolink.com/resources/ar...th=11&id=13706

Chemotherapy temporarily alters brain structure, which may explain "chemobrain"
Megan Rauscher
Reuters Health
Posting Date: November 27, 2006

Last Updated: 2006-11-27 11:31:21 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adjuvant chemotherapy causes transient structural changes in cognitively sensitive areas of the brain, which may partly account for some of the previously reported cognitive difficulties referred to as "chemobrain," Japanese investigators report in the January 1, 2007 issue of Cancer, published online November 27.

The neural mechanisms responsible for cognitive impairments related to chemotherapy have not been fully elucidated, Dr. Masatoshi Inagaki, of the National Cancer Center Hospital East in Chiba and colleagues note in the report.

"Our study explored the regional brain volume differences between breast cancer survivors exposed to adjuvant chemotherapy and those unexposed, using brain MRI within 1 year and 3 years after their cancer surgery," Dr. Inagaki told Reuters Health.

Among 105 women who participated in the 1-year study, 51 received adjuvant chemotherapy and 54 did not. Among the 132 women in the 3-year study, 73 received adjuvant chemotherapy and 59 did not.

Within 1 year of cancer surgery, investigators observed that women exposed to adjuvant chemotherapy had smaller regional volumes of gray and white matter than unexposed women. The brain regions affected included the prefrontal, parahippocampal, cingulate gyrus, and precuneus regions.

However, at 3-years post-surgery, there were no regional brain volume differences between chemotherapy exposed and unexposed women.