Brain Function, Structure, and Neurochemistry After Tamoxifen/Chemotherapy Assessed by Neuropsychologic Testing and 1H Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Abstract
Loss of mental abilities represents a recognized threat to the quality of life of postmenopausal women with advancing age. Most recently, several reports have used a sensitive method (neuropsychological testing) to evaluate younger women with breast cancer after chemotherapy and hormonal modifying therapy (with tamoxifen), and found that a substantial percentage of these women had reduced mental abilities compared to women who were not treated with chemotherapy and hormonal modifying therapy. It also appears that these mental deficits are overlooked by the screening tests currently used in many large-scale breast cancer treatment and prevention studies, most likely because these simple screening tests become abnormal only when the brain is damaged to a moderate or severe degree. In the previous studies, most of the women with mental deficits obtained both chemotherapy and hormonal modifying therapy, so that it is unclear which of the two therapies caused the mental deficits. Furthermore, tens of millions of healthy women without breast cancer may soon obtain hormonal modifying therapy (with tamoxifen and possibly other drugs) to prevent future breast cancer; therefore, it is extremely important to know whether these drugs may cause injury to the brain and long-lasting problems with mental abilities. This study is designed to address these questions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA403373
Entities
People
- Thomas Ernst
Organizations
- Harbor–UCLA Medical Center