Heterogeneous Response of Chemotherapy-Related Cognitive Decline in Patients with Breast Cancer: A Prospective Study

Abstract

AbstractObjective: A significant proportion of adjuvant-treated breast cancer patients experience cognitive decline, challenging the person's ability to return to normal activities after treatment. However, not every patient experiences cognitive problems, and even in patients with impairments, determining clinically important cognitive decline remains challenging. Our objective was to explore differences in neuropsychological performance following adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) in patients with breast cancer.Method: We conducted a prospective observational study in an Oncology Breast Clinic and assessed neuropsychological performance before and after adjuvant CT and in non-CT-treated women with breast cancer and healthy controls (HCs). Standardised between-group differences and regression-based change scores were calculated.Results: CT-treated patients (n = 66) performed significantly different from non-CT-treated patients (n = 39) and HCs (n = 56). There was a significant effect on verbal fluency (p =.0013). CT performed significantly worse than non-CT and HC [effect size (ES) =.89, p