Is 'chemo-fog'/'chemo-brain' caused by cancer chemotherapy?

Raffa, Robert B.; Duong, P. V.; Finney, Joseph D; Garber, D. A.; Lam, Linh; Mathew, Sowmya; Patel, Nimal; Plaskett, K. C.; Shah, Mihir; Weng, Han-Yu

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2710.2006.00726.x

Cited by 69 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…It must be highlighted that some medical clinicians are reluctant to provide information on chemobrain, because of the belief that patients may reject chemotherapy if they believe there is a causal relationship between chemobrain and chemotherapy. Whilst the debate continues, women with breast cancer may face dilemmas about continuing treatment which may lead to worse adverse effects [8] Nevertheless, there are no data to suggest that fears about chemobrain are likely to lead to withdrawal from chemotherapy. In fact, the majority of participants indicated they were willing to undergo chemotherapy despite side effects [33], [34], [36].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemobrain Experienced by Breast Cancer Survivors: A Meta-Ethnography Study Investigating Research and Care Implications

et al. 2014

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BackgroundCognitive impairment, colloquially termed “chemobrain”, occurs in 10–40% of all cancer patients, and is an emerging target of cancer survivorship research.AimThis study reviews published qualitative studies to explore cognitive impairments or chemobrain among breast cancer survivors, with particular attention given to the impact on quality of life.MethodUsing keywords, we searched ten electronic databases (CINAHL, EMBASE, Proquest, OVID SP, MEDLINE, Oxford Journal, Science Direct, PubMED).FindingsOf 457 papers, seven relevant papers were included. Data was extracted and concepts were analysed using a meta ethnography approach. Four second order intepretations were identified, on the basis of which, four third order intrepretations were constructed. Linked together in a line of argument, was a consistent account on their struggles to self-manage the chemobrain impairments that impact their daily lives. Five concepts emerged from the analysis of the primary findings: i) real experiences of cognitive changes, ii) calls for help, iii) impact of cognitive impairments, iv) coping and v) survivorship and meaning. Further synthesis resulted in four new order intepretations: i) The chemobrain struggle, ii) The substantial impact of chemobrain on life domains, iii) The struggle to readjust and to self manage, and iv) ‘thankful yet fearful’ representation.DiscussionAwareness of cognitive changes were context-dependent on healthcare settings and cultural contexts as strong determinants. Subjects verified the existence of chemobrain but healthcare providers mis-recognised, under-recognised, and sometimes negated it perhaps due to its unknown aetiology. Asian breast cancer survivors appear less vocal than their western counterparts.ConclusionThe current literature on the lived experiences of how women experienced chemobrain provides a consistent report that chemobrain is real, persistent and with detrimental impacts on quality of life - manifested as a constant struggles. A greater awareness of the effects of chemobrain with improved functional assessment and interventions is warranted.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemobrain Experienced by Breast Cancer Survivors: A Meta-Ethnography Study Investigating Research and Care Implications

et al. 2014

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“…However, several published studies claim that the literature has not demonstrated a clear causal relationship between adjuvant chemotherapy and subsequent cognitive difficulties [1]. A number of cross-sectional studies of women with breast cancer (BC) previously treated with chemotherapy documented a prevalence of cognitive impairment (28-75%) [2][3][4][5][6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The cognitive effects of chemotherapy in post-menopausal breast cancer patients: a controlled longitudinal study

Tager

McKinley

Schnabel

et al. 2009

Breast Cancer Res Treat

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Studies suggest that adjuvant chemotherapy for early stage breast cancer (BC) is associated with cognitive impairment related to attention, memory, and visuospatial functioning. However, other studies have failed to confirm that relationship. We report one of the first longitudinal, controlled studies of cognitive effects of chemotherapy in older post-menopausal women. Sixty-one post-menopausal women with non-metastatic BC were administered neuropsychological tests before adjuvant therapy (Time1), six months after treatment (Time2), and at a final 6-month follow-up (Time3). Thirty women were treated with chemotherapy; thirty-one women who received no chemotherapy were controls. Cognitive domains measured included motor, language, attention/concentration/working memory, visuospatial, and memory (verbal and visual). Time-by-treatment interaction was significant in the motor domain (P = 0.007) with poorer performance in women treated with chemotherapy. For the other domains, scores did not significantly vary over time by group. In post-menopausal women, chemotherapy was not associated with changes in cognitive function in areas reported by BC survivors: attention, memory, and information processing. Motor slowing in women treated with chemotherapy could be secondary to peripheral neuropathy rather than an indication of more general declines in cognitive processing. Future studies should control for the independent effects of slowed motor functioning when looking to study possible chemotherapy related cognitive processing deficits.

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“…Earlier research results have confirmed the occurrence of changes resulting from oncological treatment in cancer patients' cognitive functioning [10,11]. The phenomenon has a heterogeneous character.…”

Section: Heterogeneity Of the Phenomenon -Causesmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…Dotychczasowe doniesienia badawcze potwierdzają istnienie zmian w funkcjonowaniu poznawczym pacjentów cierpiących na nowotwór w odpowiedzi na leczenie onkologiczne [10,11]. Zjawisko to ma charakter heterogeniczny.…”

Section: Niejednorodność Zjawiska -Przyczynyunclassified

Review paper. Chemobrain in patients suffering from cancer based on the example of multiple myeloma

Bury

2017

Current Problems of Psychiatry

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Introduction: The incidence rate of cancers emphasizes the necessity to investigate not only patients' somatic ailments but also their psychosocial functioning as well as the need to raise the quality standards of cancer patients. The improvement of the quality of life is one of the major challenges of psycho-oncology, which is the science created in the interface of two disciplines: psychology and medicine.One of the important aspects of psycho-oncologists' activity is the minimization of negative side-effects related to treatment, such as changes in patients' cognitive functioning resulting from anti-cancer treatment.Objective: The aim of this work is to provide the reader with the knowledge concerning the phenomenon of chemobrain in a very special group of patients with hemato-oncologic tumour. Few researches related to this topic have confirmed the occurrence of cognitive deficits resulting from the cancer process, taken cytotoxic drugs, other forms of anti-cancer therapy and the activeness of biochemical compounds in patients with multiple myeloma.Methods: The author has done a literary review concerning the topic under study using the Google Scholar and EBSCO databases. The main part of this work consists of references to Polish and English research literature published after 2000. The review includes also classic works from the eighties and nineties of the 20th century.Results: The present work has been divided into several sections. The part devoted to explanation of the term chemobrain describes the evolution of its definition over the years. The second section -'Heterogeneity of the phenomenon -causes' -underlines the influence of biochemical etiological factors, such as the impact of the activity of proinflammatory cytokines on the cognitive state of the patients suffering from tumour. Next part -'Chemobrain and multiple myeloma' is devoted to the clinical characteristics of this cancer and to the descriptions of the selected methods of chemotherapy. The review of researches concerning the deteriorated cognitive functioning of patients with multiple myeloma in relation to the probable aetiology of this disease has been also presented.Conclusions: The review of Polish and English literature concerning the functioning of memory and attention processes in the patients suffering from multiple myeloma can serve as an inspiration for a search for objective biochemical factors conditioning the deterioration of cognitive processes of the patients undergoing anti-cancer treatment.

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Is 'chemo-fog'/'chemo-brain' caused by cancer chemotherapy?

Cited by 69 publications

References 48 publications

Chemobrain Experienced by Breast Cancer Survivors: A Meta-Ethnography Study Investigating Research and Care Implications

Chemobrain Experienced by Breast Cancer Survivors: A Meta-Ethnography Study Investigating Research and Care Implications

The cognitive effects of chemotherapy in post-menopausal breast cancer patients: a controlled longitudinal study

Review paper. Chemobrain in patients suffering from cancer based on the example of multiple myeloma

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