Researchers Find Possible Cause of “Chemo Brain” in Breast Cancer Patients

Thanks to early diagnosis and chemotherapy, more women survive breast cancer than ever before. However, following treatment, approximately 25 percent of survivors experience mild to moderate memory, concentration and cognitive problems known as “chemobrain”.

“Several studies have investigated chemotherapy’s cause and effect on memory problems, but until now scientists had no clue what changes in the brain lead to memory loss,” Jame Abraham, M.D., director of the Comprehensive Breast Cancer Program at West Virginia University’s Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center, said.

Abraham and his research team conducted one of the first chemobrain studies of its kind. The study documented the extent of changes to the brain’s white matter in women who received chemotherapy for breast cancer.

The preliminary study involved ten breast cancer patients who had received chemotherapy and complained of cognitive changes. A control group of nine healthy women of similar age, education and IQ, who never received chemotherapy, was also studied.

All participants were screened for medical, neurologic and psychiatric conditions that could affect brain structure or function. Participants were tested for depression, anxiety and processing speed.

Each participant also participated in a diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) MRI scan. The DTI was used to assess changes in the white matter of the brain.

“The images indicated differences in the white matter in the front part of the brain in women who had received chemotherapy,” said Marc Haut, Ph.D., of WVU’s departments of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, Neurology and Radiology. “This difference in white matter correlated with how quickly the breast cancer patients could process information.”

“Women who received chemotherapy performed significantly worse in speed of processing than their counterparts in the control group,” said Abraham. “Our preliminary findings suggest that chemotherapy may change the brain and those changes affect the patient’s cognitive skills.”

Morgantown resident Sharon Palmatory, a patient of Dr. Abraham, recently finished chemotherapy treatments. She had very few side effects during chemotherapy, but after treatment experienced trouble remembering names and numbers.

“I can’t multi-task anymore; I can only focus on one thing at a time. It’s frustrating because I am used to being in control,” Palmatory said.

In some patients chemobrain can have a significant and serious affect on their everyday life.

“I feel like I’m always lagging behind in processing information,” she said. “It’s good to know that Dr. Abraham and others are studying this problem; they can let women receiving chemo know that they may experience memory loss.”

WVU researchers also concluded that changes in the white matter of the brain do not appear to be caused by depression or anxiety.