title: Long-term cognitive impairment of breast cancer patients after chemotherapy: A functional MRI study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chemotherapy, a prominent treatment for breast cancer (BC), can have detrimental side effects on the patient's cognitive functions including the executive function. However, the neurophysiological mechanism of the cognitive impairment remains unclear.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study is to explore long-term chemotherapy-related functional connectivity changes using fMRI and the relationship between the connectivity changes and the executive function impairment in breast cancer patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, twenty-three breast cancer patients were treated with chemotherapy and twenty-six healthy subjects were recruited as the healthy control (HC) group. The functional connectivity of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was calculated from resting-state fMRI of the BC and control groups. The relationship between the functional connectivity of ACC and the executive function was further analyzed based on the patient' response time of the Stroop Interference Test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results show that functional connectivity of ACC in the BC group is significantly lower than that in the control group. The correlation analysis within the BC group indicates that the functional connectivity of ACC was significantly correlated with the executive function.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings provide evidence that the functional connectivity changes might be a pathophysiological basis for long-term chemotherapy-related cognitive dysfunction, along with executive function impairment in breast cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Centers for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miao
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China.
authors.forename: Jingjing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Centers for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Centers for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Washington, 825 Eastlake Ave, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
authors.forename: Savannah C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Partridge
authors.affiliation: Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08854, USA.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Centers for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China.
authors.forename: Yunpeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bian
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui 230022, China.
authors.forename: Yongqiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Centers for Biomedical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230027, China. Electronic address: bqiu@ustc.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Bensheng
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Qiu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000077143:Docetaxel; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D056344:Executive Function / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects; D057190:Stroop Test; D043823:Taxoids / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating; D043823:Taxoids; D000077143:Docetaxel; D004317:Doxorubicin; D003520:Cyclophosphamide
keywords: Breast cancer; Chemotherapy; Cognitive impairment; Functional MRI; Functional connectivity