title: Long-term cognitive function following chemotherapy in patients with testicular cancer.
abstract: Cancer patients frequently report cognitive complaints following chemotherapy, but the results from the available studies, mainly of women with breast cancer, are inconsistent. Our aim was to compare cognitive function of men with testicular cancer (TC) who had orchiectomy and chemotherapy (bleomycin, etoposide, cisplatin) with men who had orchiectomy only or orchiectomy and radiotherapy. Thirty-six chemotherapy patients and 36 nonchemotherapy patients were tested 2-7 years after treatment for TC with standardized neuropsychological tests. Chemotherapy and nonchemotherapy patients displayed similar performances on cognitive tests (p values adjusted for multiple comparisons: .63-1.00). Moreover, there was no difference in the proportion of cognitively impaired patients in the chemotherapy group (5.6%) compared to the nonchemotherapy group (8.3%) (chi2 = 0.22, p = .64). Our results are discordant with previous findings indicating cognitive impairment following chemotherapy and suggest that TC patients do not need to fear long-term cognitive consequences following chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychology Hammel Neurorehabilitation and Research Center, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark. andped@rm.dk
authors.forename: Anders Degn
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rossen
authors.forename: Mimi Yung
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Mehlsen
authors.forename: Christina Gundgaard
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zachariae
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: von der Maase
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant / Q000379:methods; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery; D055815:Young Adult