The impact of cancer treatment on cognitive efficiency: Chemobrain – does it exist?

• M.Kuśmierek ^[1] ; J.Jasionowska ^[1] ; P.Maruszewska ^[1] ; E.Kalinka-Warzocha ^[2] ; P. Galecki ^[1] ; I. Mikołajczyk ^[4] ; M. Talarowska ^[3]
  1. [1] Medical University of Lodz

     Medical University of Lodz

     Łódź, Polonia

     
  2. [2] Polish Mother's Memorial Hospital & Research Institute

     Polish Mother's Memorial Hospital & Research Institute

     Łódź, Polonia

     
  3. [3] University of Łódź

     University of Łódź

     Łódź, Polonia

     
  4. [4] Department of Chemotherapy with the Sub-unit of Diagnostics and Oncological Therapy of the Regional Oncological Centre at the Voivodship Specialist Hospital in Lodz, Poland

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• Localización: European journal of psychiatry, ISSN 0213-6163, Vol. 34, Nº 1, 2020, págs. 20-26
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpsy.2019.10.002
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  • Background and objectives Cognitive function deficits are considered the most significant symptom in the course of many mental and somatic diseases. The aim of this work is to assess the intensity of cognitive deficits in patients diagnosed with lung cancer, treated using antineoplastic chemotherapy. An attempt has also been made to link the applied treatment methods with the intensification of cognitive deficits.

    Methods 68 people were qualified to take part in the experiment. The subjects were divided into two groups: the affected with diagnosed lung cancer and healthy subjects from the comparative group. The evaluation of cognitive functioning was conducted using the following neuropsychological methods: the Trail Making Test A & B (TMT), the Stroop Color-Word Interference Test, and the Verbal Fluency Test (VFT).

    Results The treated subjects with a diagnosed malignant disease during the first stage of treatment recorded significantly worse results of the tests used to evaluate cognitive efficiency than the comparative group during each task. The hypothesis regarding statistically significant differences in the cognitive functioning between subsequent examination stages in the group of patients with cancer was not confirmed.

    Conclusions (1) In the people diagnosed with a malignant disease, subject to chemotherapy, it was possible to observe significant deterioration of cognitive efficiency in the scope of information processing speed, working memory, executive functions and verbal fluency. (2) No statistically significant differences in cognitive functioning were found between subsequent stages of the examination.