title: Neuropsychological performance in survivors of breast cancer more than 20 years after adjuvant chemotherapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer can have adverse effects on cognition shortly after administration. Whether chemotherapy has any long-term effects on cognition is largely unknown, yet it becomes increasingly relevant because of the widespread use of chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer and the improved survival. We investigated whether cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil (CMF) chemotherapy for breast cancer is associated with worse cognitive performance more than 20 years after treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  This case-cohort study compared the cognitive performance of patients with breast cancer who had a history of adjuvant CMF chemotherapy treatment (six cycles; average time since treatment, 21 years; n = 196) to that of a population-based sample of women never diagnosed with cancer (n = 1,509). Participants were between 50 and 80 years of age. Exclusion criteria were ever use of adjuvant endocrine therapy, secondary malignancy, recurrence, and/or metastasis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The women exposed to chemotherapy performed significantly worse than the reference group on cognitive tests of immediate (P = .015) and delayed verbal memory (P = .002), processing speed (P < .001), executive functioning (P = .013), and psychomotor speed (P = .001). They experienced fewer symptoms of depression (P < .001), yet had significantly more memory complaints on two of three measures that could not be explained by cognitive test performance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Survivors of breast cancer treated with adjuvant CMF chemotherapy more than 20 years ago perform worse, on average, than random population controls on neuropsychological tests. The pattern of cognitive problems is largely similar to that observed in patients shortly after cessation of chemotherapy. This study suggests that cognitive deficits following breast cancer diagnosis and subsequent CMF chemotherapy can be long lasting.
authors.affiliation: Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Koppelmans
authors.forename: Monique M B
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Breteler
authors.forename: Willem
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Boogerd
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Seynaeve
authors.forename: Chad
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gundy
authors.forename: Sanne B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Schagen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D056344:Executive Function / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D005472:Fluorouracil; D008727:Methotrexate